Effects of representation on students solving physics problems: A fine-grained characterization

dc.creator	Noah D. Finkelstein
dc.creator	Patrick B. Kohl
dc.date	2006-05-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:12:02Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:12:02Z
dc.identifier	1554-9178
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/dd00d5697ddd43a79a70298473d8f6f1
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/14917
dc.description	Recent papers document that student problem-solving competence varies (often strongly) with representational format, and that there are significant differences between the effects that traditional and reform-based instructional environments have on these competences [Kohl and Finkelstein, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 1, 010104 (2005); Kohl and Finkelstein, Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 2, 010102 (2006)]. These studies focused on large-lecture introductory physics courses, and included aggregate data on student performance on quizzes and homeworks. In this paper, we complement previous papers with finer-grained in-depth problem-solving interviews. In 16 interviews of students drawn from these classes, we investigate in more detail how and when student problem-solving performance varies with problem representation (verbal, mathematical, graphical, or pictorial). We find that student strategy often varies with representation, and that in this environment students who show more strategy variation tend to perform more poorly. We also verify that student performance depends sensitively on the particular combination of representation, topic, and student prior knowledge. Finally, we confirm that students have generally robust opinions of their representational skills, and that these opinions correlate poorly with their actual performances.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	American Physical Society
dc.relation	http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRSTPER/v2/e010106
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1554-9178
dc.source	Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research, Vol 2, Iss 1 (2006)
dc.subject	Representational format
dc.subject	Problem-solving interviews
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Effects of representation on students solving physics problems: A fine-grained characterization
dc.type	article