The physics of sound is a foundational component of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) education, yet students often struggle to transfer physics knowledge from traditional instructional settings to applied disciplinary contexts. This study investigated first-year SLT students’ performance on decontextualized and context-linked physics assessments in a Physics of Sound course, together with their epistemological beliefs about physics. A quantitative, exploratory correlational design was employed with 21 undergraduate students. Data were collected from routinely administered course assessments, including a decontextualized midterm examination, a context-linked final examination, and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS).
| Published in | Education Journal (Volume 15, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14 |
| Page(s) | 25-34 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Conceptual Understanding, Context-Based Assessment, Physics of Sound, Physics for Non-physicists, Speech and Language Therapy
| [1] | Redish, E. F. Chapter 1: Introduction and motivation. In Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite. New York, NJ: Wiley; 2003, pp. 1-16. |
| [2] | McDermott, L. C., Shaffer, P. S. Tutorials in Introductory Physics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2002. |
| [3] | Meltzer, D. E., Thornton, R. K. Active-Learning Instruction in Physics. American Journal of Physics. 2012, 80(6), 478-496. |
| [4] | McBride, K. K. Customizing physics courses for non-physics majors using relevant problems to motivate students. American Journal of Physics. 2022, 90(6), 465-472. |
| [5] | Faletič, J. Learning physics: Sound and waves. In the International Handbook of Physics Education Research: Learning Physics. College Park, MD: AIP Publishing; 2023, pp. 1-25. |
| [6] | West, E., Wallin, A. Students’ learning of a generalized theory of sound transmission from a teaching-learning sequence about sound, hearing and health. International Journal of Science Education. 2013, 35(6), 980-1011. |
| [7] | Linder, C. J. University physics students’ conceptualizations of factors affecting the speed of sound propagation. International Journal of Science Education. 15(6), 655 - 662. |
| [8] | Hrepic, Z., Zollman, D. A., Rebello, N. S. Identifying students’ mental models of sound propagation: The role of conceptual blending in understanding conceptual change. Physical Review Physics Education Research. 2010, 6, 020114. |
| [9] | diSessa, A. A. The Construction of Causal Schemes: Learning Mechanisms at the Knowledge Level. Cognitive Science, 2014, 38, 795-850. |
| [10] | Özmen, K. Integrating physics demonstrations in undergraduate audiology classroom. Physics Education. 2019, 54(6), 065020. |
| [11] | Özmen, K. Health Science Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Electricity: Misconception or Lack of Knowledge?. Research in Science Education. 2024, 54, 225-243. |
| [12] | Lof, G. L. Science-based practice and the speech-language pathologist. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2011, 13(3), 189-196, |
| [13] | Redish, E. F., Bauer, C., Carleton, K. L., Cooke, T. J., Cooper, M., Crouch, C. H., Dreyfus, B. W., Geller, B. D., Giannini, J., Gouvea, J. S., Klymkowsky, M. W., Losert, W., Moore, K., Presson, J., Sawtelle, V., Thompson, K. V., Turpen, C., Zia, R. K. P. NEXUS/Physics: An interdisciplinary repurposing of physics for biologists. American Journal of Physics. 2014, 82(5), 368-377. |
| [14] | Crouch, C. H., Heller, K. Introductory Physics for Life Sciences: Preparing and Engaging Students Through Authentic Interdisciplinary Connections. In the International Handbook of Physics Education Research: Learning Physics. College Park, MD: AIP Publishing; 2023, pp. 1-21. |
| [15] | Geller, B. D., Tipton, M., Daniel-Morales, B., Tignor, N., White, C., Crouch, C. H. Assessing the impact of introductory physics for the life sciences on students’ ability to build complex models. Physical Review Physics Education Research. 2022, 18, 010131. |
| [16] | Hammer, D. Epistemological beliefs in physics learning. Cognition and Instruction. 1994, 12(2), 151-183. |
| [17] | Adams, W. K., Perkins, K. K., Podolefsky, N. S., Dubson, M., Finkelstein, N. D., Wieman, C. E. New instrument for measuring student beliefs about physics and learning physics: The CLASS. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research. 2006, 2, 010101. |
| [18] | Mason, A. J., Bertram, C. A. Consideration of learning orientations as an application of achievement goals in evaluating life science majors in introductory physics. Physical Review Physics Education Research. 2018, 14, 010125. |
| [19] | Lunk, B. R., Beichner, R. J. Attitudes of life science majors toward computational modelling in introductory physics. In Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA, USA; 2016, pp. 208-211. |
| [20] | Slotta, J. D., Chi, M. T. H. helping students understand challenging topics in science through ontology training. Cognition and Instruction, 2006, 24(2), 261-289. |
| [21] | Hammer, D., Elby, A. Tapping epistemological resources for learning physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2003, 12(1), 53-90. |
| [22] | Montalbano, V. Sound and noise: a proposal for an interdisciplinary learning path. In Proceedings of the 18th Edition of the Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning Conference (MPTL), Madrid, Spain, 2013, pp. 83-88. Available from |
| [23] | Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E. How to design and evaluate research in education, 7th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2008. |
| [24] | Field, A. Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics, 5th ed. London, UK: Sage; 2018. |
| [25] | Kaltakci-Gurel, D. Turkish adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) in physics. The European Educational Researcher. 2021, 4(3), 355-372. |
| [26] | Schmitt, N. Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychological Assessment. 1996, 8(4), 350-353. |
| [27] | Nunnally, J. C., Bernstein, I. H. Psychometric Theory, 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1994. |
| [28] | DeVellis, R. F., Carolyn, T. T. Scale development: Theory and applications, 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2022. |
APA Style
Ozmen, K. (2026). Decontextualized and Context-Linked Assessment in a Physics Course for SLT Students. Education Journal, 15(1), 25-34. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14
ACS Style
Ozmen, K. Decontextualized and Context-Linked Assessment in a Physics Course for SLT Students. Educ. J. 2026, 15(1), 25-34. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14
@article{10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14,
author = {Kubra Ozmen},
title = {Decontextualized and Context-Linked Assessment in a Physics Course for SLT Students},
journal = {Education Journal},
volume = {15},
number = {1},
pages = {25-34},
doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20261501.14},
abstract = {The physics of sound is a foundational component of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) education, yet students often struggle to transfer physics knowledge from traditional instructional settings to applied disciplinary contexts. This study investigated first-year SLT students’ performance on decontextualized and context-linked physics assessments in a Physics of Sound course, together with their epistemological beliefs about physics. A quantitative, exploratory correlational design was employed with 21 undergraduate students. Data were collected from routinely administered course assessments, including a decontextualized midterm examination, a context-linked final examination, and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS).},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Decontextualized and Context-Linked Assessment in a Physics Course for SLT Students AU - Kubra Ozmen Y1 - 2026/02/20 PY - 2026 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14 DO - 10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14 T2 - Education Journal JF - Education Journal JO - Education Journal SP - 25 EP - 34 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2327-2619 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20261501.14 AB - The physics of sound is a foundational component of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) education, yet students often struggle to transfer physics knowledge from traditional instructional settings to applied disciplinary contexts. This study investigated first-year SLT students’ performance on decontextualized and context-linked physics assessments in a Physics of Sound course, together with their epistemological beliefs about physics. A quantitative, exploratory correlational design was employed with 21 undergraduate students. Data were collected from routinely administered course assessments, including a decontextualized midterm examination, a context-linked final examination, and the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS). VL - 15 IS - 1 ER -