In this article, we present several modifications to the Test of Understanding Graphs in Kinematics. The most significant changes are (i) the addition and removal of items to achieve parallelism in the objectives (dimensions) of the test, thus allowing comparisons of students’ performance that were not possible with the original version, and (ii) changes to the distractors of some of the original items that represent the most frequent alternative conceptions. The final modified version (after an iterative process involving four administrations of test variations over two years) was administered to 471 students of an introductory university physics course at a large private university in Mexico. When analyzing the final modified version of the test it was found that the added items satisfied the statistical tests of difficulty, discriminatory power, and reliability; also, that the great majority of the modified distractors were effective in terms of their frequency selection and discriminatory power; and, that the final modified version of the test satisfied the reliability and discriminatory power criteria as well as the original test. Here, we also show the use of the new version of the test, presenting a new analysis of students’ understanding not possible to do before with the original version of the test, specifically regarding the objectives and items that in the new version meet parallelisms. Finally, in the PhysPort project (physport.org), we present the final modified version of the test. It can be used by teachers and researchers to assess students’ understanding of graphs in kinematics, as well as their learning about them.

One of the most significant challenges of telepresence distance education is to bring the professor and the students closer together in a synchronistic educational experience where the professor is perceived as anatomically proportionate. Telepresence, an educational technology ecosystem using holograms, offers a way to solve this technological challenge. Our mixed exploratory research investigating this methodology had two purposes: (1) propose the key elements to teach distance courses synchronously in an educational technology ecosystem, and (2) demonstrate the technological, didactic practices that result in positive student learning outcomes in several specified courses. This methodology included applying a student questionnaire to collect their perceptions of the educational experience. The scores and written comments from the questionnaire were analyzed using Grounded Theory. On a Likert scale from 1 to 5, the students scored their educational experience, attaining a mean of 4.05. The positive perception affirmed that they valued: (a) recreating the natural dynamics of face-to-face classes, where the students perceived their professors as being physically present in the classroom; (b) professors renowned in their disciplines; (c) professor–student and campus and intercampus learning community interactions, and, finally, (d) class design and content. The main conclusions of this research were that students positively perceived the “wow” effect of the technology, feeling comfort, amazement, interest, and engagement. In addition, we found that professors and keynote speakers with excellent pedagogical skills and experts in their disciplines were well appreciated. Key elements for the success of the experience were professor-student, campus, and intercampus interactions and the quality of the technological and communication infrastructure.

Understanding a graph in pairs, in a productive way, improves the comprehension of a concept. In this research, we had 2 objectives: 1) to delve deep into the behavior of 15 pairs of remedial physics students when solving a problem with a graph of velocity, 2) to understand the interchange of personal meanings during their interactions. We posed the problem through an interview about velocity given a graph of position. We analyzed the participants’ behavior based on the mathematical problem-solving theory of Schoenfeld. This analysis brought on the examination of interactions through grounded theory. We found that communication in the interchange of meanings and the quality of interactions is linked to productivity in problem-solving. We worked with a few emergent propositions based on behavior and interactions of pairs, then we identified specific alternative conceptions that students utilized to discuss the problem, how they managed their time and the richness of their contributions. Finally, we concluded that the mapping is a powerful tool that offers a view of students’ mental paths while solving problems that allow to assess the nature of the conceptual models originated by the interaction.

El “Test of Understanding of Graphs in Kinematics (TUG-K)”, es el test de opciones múltiples más importante diseñado hasta la fecha para evaluar el entendimiento de estudiantes universitarios en gráficas de cinemática. En este estudio se presenta una modificación significativa de este test en español. El test fue implementado en 124 estudiantes que terminaban un curso de mecánica basado en cálculo en una universidad privada mexicana. Los cuatro objetivos del presente artículo son: (1) presentar el test en español y su proceso de rediseño, (2) mostrar que es un instrumento de evaluación confiable con poder discriminatorio adecuado, (3) exponer un análisis detallado del entendimiento de los estudiantes en los conceptos evaluados en el test, y (4) establecer recomendaciones específicas, basadas en los análisis previos, para la instrucción de estos conceptos. De esta forma, este artículo ofrece un análisis exhaustivo de dificultades de entendimiento, recomendaciones basadas en investigación y un examen disponible en el apéndice que pueden ser empleados por investigadores del área de la enseñanza de la física, y por profesores que enseñen el tema de gráficas de cinemática en cursos de física en países hispanohablantes. The “Test of Understanding of Graphs in Kinematics (TUG-K)”, is the most important multiple-choice test designed to date to evaluate the understanding of university students in kinematics graphs. In this study, we present a significant modification of this test in Spanish. We administered the test to 124 students who finished a mechanics-based course in a private Mexican university. The four objectives of this article are: (1) to present the test in Spanish and its redesign process, (2) to show that it is a reliable evaluation instrument with adequate discriminatory power, (3) to present a detailed analysis of students’ understanding on the concepts evaluated in the test, and (4) to establish specific recommendations, based on the previous analyzes, for the instruction of these concepts. In this way, this article offers a comprehensive analysis of understanding difficulties, research-based recommendations and the test available in the Appendix that can be used by researchersin the field of physics education, and by teachers who teach the subject of graphics of kinematics in physics courses in Spanish-speaking countries.