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Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it
written by MacKenzie Lenz, Paul J. Emigh, and Elizabeth Gire
Special-case analysis--setting parameters to special values and checking that the answer is consistent with previously known results or physical intuitions--is a common strategy for reflecting on the correctness and meaning of answers to physics problems. We interviewed eleven calculus-based introductory physics students to learn about their use of such reflection strategies. Six of the students were enrolled in a reformed course where students were prompted to reflect on their homework solutions. Checking special cases was specifically suggested in the homework instructions as a reflection strategy. Five students were in a different course that did not prompt reflection on homework. During the interviews, none of the students performed a special-case analysis or were familiar with the strategy. We suggest that students need explicit instruction on how to do a special-case analysis if they are expected to perform it while reflecting on answers to physics problems.
Physics Education Research Conference 2018
Part of the PER Conference series
Washington, DC: August 1-2, 2018
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Basic Research
- Problem Solving
= Heuristics
= Processes
- Student Characteristics
= Skills
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Format:
application/pdf
Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2018…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2018.pr.Lenz
Keyword:
PERC 2018
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created December 31, 2018 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
December 31, 2018 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
December 31, 2018
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Record Link
AIP Format
M. Lenz, P. Emigh, and E. Gire, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960).
AJP/PRST-PER
M. Lenz, P. Emigh, and E. Gire, Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960>.
APA Format
Lenz, M., Emigh, P., & Gire, E. (2018, August 1-2). Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960
Chicago Format
Lenz, M, P. Emigh, and E. Gire. "Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, August 1-2, 2018. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960 (accessed 4 November 2024).
MLA Format
Lenz, MacKenzie, Paul Emigh, and Elizabeth Gire. "Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it." Physics Education Research Conference 2018. Washington, DC: 2018. of PER Conference. 4 Nov. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "MacKenzie Lenz and Paul Emigh and Elizabeth Gire", Title = {Surprise! students don’t do special-case analysis when unaware of it}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2018}, Address = {Washington, DC}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {August 1-2}, Year = {2018} }
Refer Export Format

%A MacKenzie Lenz %A Paul Emigh %A Elizabeth Gire %T Surprise! students don't do special-case analysis when unaware of it %S PER Conference %D August 1-2 2018 %C Washington, DC %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Lenz, MacKenzie %A Emigh, Paul %A Gire, Elizabeth %D August 1-2 2018 %T Surprise! students don't do special-case analysis when unaware of it %B Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %C Washington, DC %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14813&DocID=4960


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