Can contexts accurately express physics concepts?
The last thing needed to be point out is that, the choice of context affects greatly the accuracy of expression of physics concepts. Some people think that in order for contextual learning and teaching be attractive for students, very interesting examples must be used. However, contextual learning and teaching is not the same as learning and teaching with fun; and interesting examples may not always be beneficial or useful. For example, young people like reading comics, so we may try to use the example of a comic character with herculean strength punching someone into midair at a high speed to teach about the relation between force and acceleration in Newton’s Second Law. This example is interesting but unrealistic, and can easily lead to misunderstanding. The reason is that this example is not observable in the real world, and it can easily cause students to confuse between “a very high acceleration” and “a very high velocity”, Students may end up acquiring the wrong concept that a la
