Physics textbooks and its network structures
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Abstract
We can observe self-organised networks all around us. These networks are, in general, scale-invariant networks described by the Barabasi-Albert model. The self-organised networks show certain universalities. These networks, in simplified models, have scale-invariant distribution (power law distribution) and the characteristic parameter α of the distribution has value between 2 and 5. Textbooks are an essential part of the learning process; therefore, we analysed the curriculum in secondary school textbooks of physics from the viewpoint of semantic network structures. We converted the textbook into a tripartite network, where the nodes represented sentences, terms and formulae. We found the same distribution as for self-organised networks. Cluster analysis was applied on the resulting network and we found individual modules—clusters. We obtained nine clusters, three of which were significantly larger. These clusters presented kinematics of point mass, dynamics of point mass and gravitational field with electric field.
Keywords: Physics textbook, scale-invariant distribution, semantic network.
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