2016/02/20 by Chandralekha Singh · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.ed-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.3183522
published as Proceedings of the 2008 Joint Annual Conference of National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists, AIP Conf. Proc., Melville, New York 1140, 183-197, (2009) · 4 pages, PACS: 01.40.Fk,01.40.G-,01.40.gb
arxiv created 2016/02/20 · arxiv updated 2016/02/23
One finding of cognitive research is that people do not automatically acquire usable knowledge by spending lots of time on task. Because students' knowledge hierarchy is more fragmented, "knowledge chunks" are smaller than those of experts. The limited capacity of short term memory makes the cognitive load high during problem solving tasks, leaving few cognitive resources available for metacognition. The abstract nature of the laws of physics and the chain of reasoning required to draw meaningful inferences makes these issues critical. In order to help students, it is crucial to consider the difficulty of a problem from the perspective of students. We are developing and evaluating interactive problem-solving tutorials to help students in the introductory physics courses learn effective problem-solving strategies while solidifying physics concepts. The self-paced tutorials can provide guidance and support for a variety of problem solving techniques, and opportunity for knowledge and skill acquisition.