Individual Teaching/Learning Interviews to Facilitate Student Problem Solving*
Dong-Hai Nguyen and N. Sanjay Rebello
Department of Physics
116 Cardwell Hall - Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506
Problem-solving strategies form the basic toolbox of scientists and engineers. Learning these strategies in different problems' contexts and representational forms is at the heart of training future scientists and engineers. We conducted individual teaching/learning interviews with 20 students in a calculus-based physics course. A total of four interview sessions were conducted during the semester, with each session following an exam in their physics class. During each interview, students were asked to solve a problem that had been selected from their exam. They then were presented with one or two more problems that shared deep structural similarities but had surface differences from the first problem. The problems differed in representation, context, or both. The students were asked to "think aloud" while working out the solutions to the problems. Appropriate hints were provided when students were unable to proceed. We discuss some common trends in students' responses to the hints provided.
*This study is supported in part by U.S. NSF grant 0816207.
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