Helping Students Become Proficient Problem Solvers Part II
An Example from Waves
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22046133 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexandru Maries (0000-0001-5781-7343, University of Cincinnati, corresponding author), Chandralekha Singh (0000-0002-1234-5458, University of Pittsburgh) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 138 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/educsci13020138 |
| OpenAlex | W4318473040 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 44 |
Helping students become proficient problem solvers is one of the primary goals of physics courses. In Part I of this article, we summarized the vast research on problem solving relevant for physics instruction, and here we discuss a concrete example of problem solving in the context of waves from introductory physics. The goal of this research was to investigate how drawing diagrams affects students’ problem-solving performance. An introductory class was broken up into three recitations which received different instructions related to diagrams on their weekly quizzes: one group was provided a diagram, another was asked to draw one, and the third was the comparison group which was given no instructions about diagrams. We find that students who were provided a diagram performed significantly worse than students in the other two groups. Furthermore, we find that irrespective of the condition, students who drew diagrams as part of the problem-solving process performed better overall, despite primarily using a mathematical approach to solving the problem. Lastly, we conducted think-aloud interviews with students who solved the same problem to further understand their solution approaches as well as how drawing a diagram is useful even in situations where a primarily mathematical approach is used
Diagram · Human–computer interaction · Mathematical problem · Mathematics education · Programming language · Think aloud protocol · Computer Science · Mathematics · Science Education and Pedagogy · Statistics Education and Methodologies · Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes · Artificial Intelligence
Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words
Cognitive Load During Problem Solving
High School Students’ Performances in Transitions between Different Representations of Linear Relationships in Mathematics and Physics
Lesson Study as a Means to Change Secondary Preservice Physics Teachers’ Practice in the Use of Multiple Representations in Teaching
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |