In this paper, the characteristics of an initial training program for secondary school physics and chemistry teachers are presented. This program is based on the resolution of professional problems, in order to develop preservice teachers' competencies for integrating inquiry-based science education (IBSE) into their future teaching. With this…

By 3 years of age, children can solve tasks involving physical principles such as locating a ball that rolled down a ramp behind an occluder by the position of a partially visible solid wall (Berthier, DeBlois, Poirer, Novak, & Clifton, 2000; Hood, Carey, & Prasada, 2000). However, the extent to which children use physical information (the…

This paper describes research on a classification of physics problems in the context of introductory physics courses. This classification, called the Taxonomy of Introductory Physics Problems (TIPP), relates physics problems to the cognitive processes required to solve them. TIPP was created in order to design educational objectives, to develop…

As part of a larger study to understand instructors' considerations regarding the learning and teaching of problem solving in an introductory physics course, we investigated beliefs of first-year graduate teaching assistants (TAs) regarding the use of example solutions in introductory physics. In particular, we examine how the goal of promoting…

The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than surface features or contexts, is considered one of several proxy predictors of expertise in problem solving. With inspiration from the classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we assess the distribution of expertise among introductory physics students by asking…

The Physics Metacognition Inventory was developed to measure physics students' metacognition for problem solving. In one of our earlier studies, an exploratory factor analysis provided evidence of preliminary construct validity, revealing six components of students' metacognition when solving physics problems including knowledge of cognition,…

Halfway through the 2015 AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, game officials discovered that the Patriots were using underinflated footballs on their offensive snaps. A controversy ensued because the Patriots had actually supplied these balls to the game's referee just hours before kickoff. Athletes and…

Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum emphasize project-based learning (PBL) with peer assessment/on-line peer assessment (PA/OPA). Many studies have stressed that students did not improve over two rounds in PBL with OPA studies and PBL with PA have to adopt team mutual cooperation to reap effective…

A seminal study by Chi "et al." firmly established the paradigm that novices categorize physics problems by "surface features" (e.g., "incline," "pendulum," "projectile motion," etc.), while experts use "deep structure" (e.g., "energy conservation," "Newton 2," etc.). Yet, efforts to replicate the study frequently fail, since the ability to…

After completing their introductory studies on thermodynamics at the university level, typically in a second-year university course, most students show a number of misconceptions. In this work, we identify some of those erroneous ideas and try to explain their origins. We also give a suggestion to attack the problem through a systematic and…

The advanced interdisciplinary research laboratory (AIRLab) represents a novel, effective, and motivational course designed from the interdisciplinary research interests of chemistry, physics, biology, and education development faculty members as an alternative to the independent thesis project experience. Student teams are assembled to work…

This study describes the possible variations of thought experiments in terms of their nature, purpose, and reasoning resources adopted during the solution of conceptual physics problems. A phenomenographic research approach was adopted for this study. Three groups of participants with varying levels of physics knowledge--low, medium, and high…

Compared with introductory physics, relatively little is known about the development of expertise in advanced physics courses, especially in the case of quantum mechanics. Here, we describe a framework for understanding the patterns of student reasoning difficulties and how students develop expertise in quantum mechanics. The framework posits that…

This case study provides an explanatory account on the underachievement of three gifted students studying physics in a Taiwanese university. The students' physics underachievement was diagnosed by Sato's student-problem analysis chart. These students were invited to complete a questionnaire and a follow-up interview in order to (1) understand the…

A physics teacher assigns problems to his or her students not to keep them indoors during sunny days, but to strengthen and deepen their understanding of the universe. Every problem has not only an answer, but also a "moral to the story"--a reason why that question and that answer are interesting and probing. It is an unfortunate fact that our…