2011/11/23 by Mathew Sandy Martinuk, Martinuk, Mathew "Sandy", Joss Ives +1
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Education and Critical Thinking Development #FOS: Physical sciences #Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #Science Education and Pedagogy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1111.5400
openalex publication_date 2011/11/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Many researchers and textbooks have promoted the use of rigid prescribed strategies for encouraging development of expert-like problem-solving behavior in novice students. The University of British Columbia's introductory algebra-based course for non-physics majors uses Context-Rich problems with a prescribed six-step strategy. We have coded audio recordings of group problem-solving sessions to analyze students' epistemological framing based on the implicit goal of their discussions. By treating the goal of "understanding the physics of the situation" as sensemaking, we argue that prescribed problem-solving prompts are not sufficient to induce subsequent sensemaking discussion.