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  Session: PER: Exploring Problem Solving Approaches and Skills
  Paper Type: Contributed
  Title: Skipping the First Step: Physical Process Understanding in Problem Solving
  Meeting: 2014 Summer Meeting: Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Location: N/A
  Date:
  Time: 2:40PM
  Author: Katherine Ansell
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(810)841-4425, crimmin1@illinois.edu
  Co-Author(s): Mats Selen, Timothy Stelzer
  Abstract: Multiple-choice tests are commonly used in large introductoryphysics courses, but the format provides limited information about specific student weaknesses in problem solving. We seek to identify and characterize the role of physical process understanding in a multiple-choice format. To do this, we have written a collection of questions designed to assess students' understanding of the physical processes that occur in given scenarios. These questions were given to students in an introductory calculus-based mechanics course in a review context for each of the major examinations in the course. We have compared student performance on these questions to student performance in examinations and will discuss what these results reveal about this specific type of understanding in problem solving.
  Footnotes: None
  Presentation: Ansell AAPT Talk July 2014.pdf

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