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Contributed talk to be presented at AAPT Summer National Meeting, Portland OR, July 2013.

Like dissolves like: Unpacking student reasoning about thermodynamic heuristics

B. Geller, B. Dreyfus, V. Sawtelle, C. Turpen, & E. Redish

In our Physics for Biologists course at the University of Maryland, we are attempting to build interdisciplinary bridges that help students understand thermodynamics better. One aspect of this endeavor involves having students grapple with the physical processes underlying heuristics that they bring to our course from their biology and chemistry classes. In particular, we have implemented a series of activities and problems intended to unpack the hydrophobicity of oil, a key step in understanding the formation of cell membranes. Student reasoning about this process illustrates the challenges we encounter in trying to bridge physics and biochemistry curricula. Understanding the spontaneous separation of oil and water requires careful consideration of the sometimes competing effects of energy and entropy. Reconciling disciplinary distinctions in how these ideas are described is an important step in helping our students develop more coherent thermodynamics concepts.