[This paper is part of the Focused Collection in Investigating and Improving Quantum Education through Research.] One of the greatest weaknesses of physics education research is the paucity of research on graduate education. While there are a growing number of investigations of graduate student degree progress and admissions, there are very few…

Despite problem solving being a core skill in chemistry, students often struggle to solve chemistry problems. This difficulty may arise from students trying to solve problems through memorising algorithms. Goldilocks Help serves as a problem-solving scaffold that supports students through structured problem solving and its elements, such as…

We designed a rubric to assess free-response exam problems in order to compare thinking skills evidenced in exams in classes taught by different pedagogies. The rubric was designed based on Bloom's taxonomy and then used to code exam problems. We have analyzed historical and recent exam problems in both algebra-based and calculus-based exams. In…

We studied the impact of metacognitive reflections on recently-completed work as a way to improve the retention of newly learned problem-solving techniques. Students video recorded themselves talking through problems immediately after finishing them, completed ongoing problem-solving strategy maps or problem-sorting exercises, and filled out…

It has been well-establishing in the field of educational research that traditional educational methods such as passive lectures and labs where students follow pre-designed procedures to verify information already told to them are not effective for promoting meaningful and lasting conceptual understanding. Alongside this knowledge have come a…

We introduce a template to (i) scaffold the problem solving process for students in the physics 1 course, and (ii) serve as a generic rubric for measuring how expertlike students are in their problem solving. This template is based on empirical studies of the problem solving practices of expert scientists and engineers, unlike most existing…

Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem solving heuristic that can transform a problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving it. One major focus while helping introductory physics students learn effective problem solving is to help them understand that drawing diagrams can facilitate problem solution. We conducted an…

Inculcating collaborative problem solving (hereinafter CPS) skills to help develop students' knowledge, especially for problem solving (PS) involved in the subject of physics is of utmost importance in the 21st century. It was on such grounds that in the present study, physics PS learning was innovated by engaging students' generated animation…

An earlier investigation found that the performance of advanced students in a quantum mechanics course did not automatically improve from midterm to final exam on identical problems even when they were provided the correct solutions and their own graded exams. Here, we describe a study, which extended over four years, in which upper-level…

Learn about the Challenge Based Science Learning Project and its larger implications for the fields of Next Generation Science Learning and Open Educational Resources. The project involved 18 middle school teachers and five administrators from three U.S. school districts partnering with instructional coaches and learning sciences researchers from…

I examined the impact of a self-diagnosis activity on students' conceptual understanding and achievements in physics. This activity requires students to self-diagnose their solutions to problems that they have solved on their own--namely, to identify and explain their errors--and self-score them--that is, assign scores to their solutions--aided by…

Project-based learning (PBL) in the science classroom provides an opportunity for students to investigate socioscientific issues that are current, authentic, and relevant. In a typical PBL unit, the teacher designs a narrative plan and acts as a facilitator who helps gather and organize student ideas. The framework of the Next Generation Science…

MAUVE (magnitude, answer, units, variables, and equations) is a framework and rubric to help students and teachers through the process of clearly solving and assessing solutions to introductory physics problems. Success in introductory physics often derives from an understanding of units, a command over dimensional analysis, and good bookkeeping.…

This study aimed at developing a module in physics based on the assessment of the learning progression of students in physics and science teachers' formative assessment practices. The participants in this study were the Grade 11 students and Junior High School science teachers for the data gathering, science teachers for the design and development…

Developing problem solving skills is often accepted as a desirable goal in many educational settings. However, there is little evidence to support that students are better problem solvers after graduating. The students can solve routine problems but they confronted difficulties when adapting their prior knowledge for the solution of new problems.…