The main goal of most physics textbooks is to develop declarative and procedural knowledge. Exercises provide pupils with opportunities to apply this knowledge. However, when confronted with more complicated exercises many pupils experience difficulties in solving them. A computer program about the subject of forces was developed containing hints…

This investigation explores the kinds of study strategies used by campus-based university students in terms of the dialogues they engaged in while learning physics and chemistry in both large and small classes. Research objectives were threefold: (1) to document what dialogue types, mediated through which resources, were generally utilized by…

In this article, the author shares a very successful 50-minute inquiry-based physics lesson that uses only small metal cans, a bit of string, and the inquiring minds of middle schoolers. The topic of the lesson is wave motion and energy transfer. The intent of this article is to show that tests of student-generated hypotheses can be simple, quick,…

This study investigates factors affecting the degree of novice physics students application of the naive impetus theory. Six hundred and fourteen first-year university engineering physics students answered the Force Concept Inventory as a pre-test for their calculus-based course. We examined the degree to which students consistently applied the…

Recently, the importance of an everyday context in physics learning, teaching, and problem-solving has been emphasized. However, do students or physics educators really want to learn or teach physics problem-solving in an everyday context? Are there not any obstructive factors to be considered in solving the everyday context physics problems? To…

We studied students performing a complex learning task, that of solving multipart physics problems with interactive tutoring on the web. We extracted the rate of completion and fraction completed as a function of time on task by retrospectively analyzing the log of student-tutor interactions. There was a spontaneous division of students into three…

A dissertation study is described which employed action research methods and was conducted over four semesters of practice in a large first year undergraduate physics laboratory making extensive use of microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) technology. Three cycles of action research are recounted, along with the resultant changes in goals,…

The last decade has seen the development of a number of computer-based interactive physics programs at the university level. Set in a cognitive apprenticeship framework, such programs view the instructor as a mentor, and the essential learning constructed in a collaborative process. It is expected that such programs, grounded as they are in…

Research in science and mathematics education has indicated that students often use inappropriate models for solving problems because they tend to mentally represent a problem according to surface features instead of referring to scientific concepts and features. The objective of the study reported in this paper was to determine whether 34 Israeli…

This paper attempts to show that it is possible to analyze a problem solving protocol in which the subject spontaneously generates a series of analogies. The qualitative physics problem given to the subject describes a situation where that which is unfamiliar is often solved by relating it to several analogous situations that are more familiar.…

Reported is an attempt to examine the nature of the reasoning used by college students who consistently erred on timer tape problems and a comparison of their performance with that of students who made logical responses. The author suggests that the poor performance of students, classified as intuitive responders, is a result of their use of an…

Reported is a study to identify various methods of conducting laboratory programs of experimental inquiry into problems of physics and to determine the effects on performance test scores of three groups of students (elementary education majors). The curricula programs developed were: (1) a laboratory curriculum of self-directed programs of…

Describes an interactive computer program which allows students to perform simulated quantum measurements on a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator. (SL)

This book contains questions for secondary school science students that require them to analyze data presented in various forms and apply knowledge and skills developed in novel situations. The content for the questions is derived from a science curriculum developed by a group of Caribbean nations. The material is organized into four sections: (1)…

Discusses the process of problem solving, stressing the iterative nature of the process and the importance of communication (explaining problems to others). Provides examples of physics/physical sciences problems useful in problem-solving competitions. Also provides examples of problems to be solved in school over several weeks. Lists of materials…