"Psi equals craziness": Upper-division physics students� conceptions of Greek letters

Symbolic representation is a cornerstone of mathematics and science.While much research has explored student understanding of various mathematical symbols, there is very little known about the way students conceptualize the use of Greek letters in scientific notation.In this work, we share excerpts from interviews with upper-division physics students, which illuminate their experience with Greek symbol use.The students reported frequently mistaking pairs of similar-looking Greek and Latin letters.They also felt that their texts and instructors had not sufficiently introduced novel Greek letters or explained what they represented in the equations.The students also disliked how often a single Greek letter would be used in multiple contexts -or that different texts and instructors would not follow the same convention for which letter to use in a single context.These observations suggest that educators should devote additional time to introducing and discussing Greek letters in scientific contexts.