Investigating and Improving Synthesis Problem Solving Skills in Introductory Physics Via Analogical Reasoning

以前对物理问题解决的研究主要集中在学生和专家解决类似教科书的练习，这些练习包含一个单一的概念，通常可以通过简单地搜索和操作章节中的方程来完成。这些任务通常会让学生习惯于基于公式的算法，并且对促进专家式启发式问题解决的影响有限。这个项目建议调查和提高学生在解决物理概论中的合成问题的技能，即：需要联合应用多个物理概念的问题，包括在课程的不同章节或显著不同的时间教授的那些概念。与传统的课本练习不同，更接近真实世界的情况，这些综合问题不容易用基于公式的即插即用来解决。这种方法并不是要求学生认识并能够协调多个关键概念，以达成一个成功的解决方案。这个项目建立在成熟的类比推理框架上，旨在(1)识别和描述学生？专家呢？(2)评估和比较旨在提高学生综合问题解决能力的各种类比推理方法，以及(3)在物理课堂上实地测试最成功的方法。该项目直接面向参加大学水平物理入门课程的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)本科生。项目中研究的合成材料和类比干预将接触到全国数千名STEM学习者，以最有效地提高他们解决问题的能力。项目成果，包括经研究验证的课程材料，将通过出版物、国家和国际介绍、讲习班和在线资源传播。这些结果不仅有助于改善大专院校的物理教育，而且还将影响我们对解决问题和STEM教育的一般知识。

Previous studies of problem solving in physics have primarily focused on students and experts solving textbook-like exercises containing a single concept that can be typically completed by simply searching for and manipulating in-chapter equations. These tasks often habituate students to formula-based algorithms and have limited impact on promoting expert-like heuristic problem solving. This project proposes to investigate and improve student skills in solving synthesis problems in introductory physics, that is: problems that require a joint application of multiple physics concepts including those that are taught in different chapters or at significantly different times in the course. Differing from the traditional textbook exercises and closer to real-world situations, these synthesis problems cannot be easily solved by using formula-based ?plug-and-chug? approaches but rather require students to recognize and be able to coordinate multiple key concepts in order to reach a successful solution. Built on the well-established framework of analogical reasoning, this project seeks to (1) identify and characterize students? and experts? approaches to synthesis problems in physics, (2) evaluate and compare various methods of analogical reasoning aimed at promoting student synthesis problem solving skills, and (3) field test the most successful method in physics classrooms.This project directly targets undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) who are enrolled in college-level introductory physics courses. The synthesis materials and analogical interventions investigated in the project will reach thousands of STEM learners across the nation to most effectively increase their problem solving skills. The project outcomes, including research-validated curricular materials, will be disseminated via publications, national and international presentations, workshops and online resources. These results will not only help improve physics education at the tertiary level but will also have bearing on our knowledge of problem solving and STEM education in general.