Guest Speaker: Dr. Abolaji Akinyemi (Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth)

Thursday, March 23, 2023
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
TC 123, Zoom

A survey of evaluation strategies used by students in physics. 

 

One expected outcome of physics instruction is that students develop quantitative reasoning skills, including strategies for evaluating solutions to problems. Examples of well-known, “canonical” evaluation strategies include special case analysis, unit analysis, and checking for reasonable numbers. We report on responses from three tasks prompting students in an introductory calculus-based physics sequence to evaluate expressions for various quantities: the velocity of a block at the bottom of an incline with friction, the final velocities of two masses involved in an elastic collision, and the electric field due to three-point charges. Responses from written (N > 673) and interview (N = 31) data at the introductory, sophomore, and junior levels were analyzed using modified grounded theory and phenomenology. At the Introductory level, prevalent approaches included re-deriving the expression from initial conditions or seeking consistency with external sources rather than pursuing an internal, logical consistency. Students’ evaluation strategies were classified into three broad categories: consulting external sources, checking through computation, and comparing to the physical world. We also examine how the prevalence of these strategies varies across different levels of the physics curriculum.