An analysis of novice problem solving in dynamics

Abstract

How individuals solve physics problems has been investigated by a variety of researchers, including cognitive psychologists and physics educators. This study describes the problem solving approaches of three novices, newly hired physics faculty, in solving two forms of problems in Dynamics: a) a conventional question with the information entirely as a text and b) the given data are presented almost wholly in a diagram. The three novices were asked to verbalize their thoughts while solving. Their written solution and the transcripts of their recorded verbalized thoughts were coded to determine their problem solving approaches. The respondents were interviewed after the problem solving session. Results revealed that the novices do not always follow the most efficient scheme for solving a problem and they teach their students how to solve physics problems based on their way of solving a problem.