Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas

Wiebke Hinrike Kuske-Janßen; Gesche Pospiech

doi:10.29333/ejmste/18737

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Wiebke Hinrike Kuske-Janßen ¹ , Gesche Pospiech ² ^*

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¹ Gymnasium Ulricianum, Aurich, GERMANY² Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GERMANY^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study examines via qualitative content analysis how teachers use and teach formulas in physics lessons, focusing on linguistic varieties (special language, educational language, and everyday language) and their classification according to a level model of formula verbalization. The research design allows a detailed reconstruction of how teachers convey formulas linguistically in class and which content-related and methodological priorities they set in doing so. A total of 10 physics teachers in Saxony schools were observed over a period of five to ten lessons per teacher and their language audio-recorded. The relevant parts of the lessons were transcribed and analyzed with qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz (2016). The resulting category system provides the first systematic description of teachers’ use of language when dealing with formulas in the classroom and identifies deficits in teaching structural mathematical-physical connections. The results contribute to deriving implications for teacher training, in particular for promoting understanding-oriented formula teaching.

Keywords

physics education
formula verbalization
teacher language use
mathematical-physical structures
teacher professional development
making meaning of formulas

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 7, July 2026, Article No: em2853

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

Publication date: 09 Jun 2026

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APA

Kuske-Janßen, W. H., & Pospiech, G. (2026). Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(7), em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

Vancouver

Kuske-Janßen WH, Pospiech G. Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(7):em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

AMA

Kuske-Janßen WH, Pospiech G. Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2026;22(7), em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

Chicago

Kuske-Janßen, Wiebke Hinrike, and Gesche Pospiech. "Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2026 22 no. 7 (2026): em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

Harvard

Kuske-Janßen, W. H., and Pospiech, G. (2026). Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(7), em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737

MLA

Kuske-Janßen, Wiebke Hinrike et al. "Making meaning of formulas in physics-lessons: Describing teacher’s speech with a verbalization-model for formulas". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 22, no. 7, 2026, em2853. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18737