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Reflection and Self-Monitoring in Quantum Mechanics
written by Andrew J. Mason and Chandralekha Singh
An assumed attribute of expert physicists is that they learn readily from their own mistakes. Experts are unlikely to make the same mistakes when asked to solve a problem a second time, especially if they have had access to a correct solution. Here, we discuss a case study in which fourteen advanced undergraduate physics students taking an honors-level quantum mechanics course were given the same four problems in both a midterm and final exam. The solutions to the midterm problems were provided to students. The performance on the final exam shows that while some advanced students performed equally well or improved compared to their performance on the midterm exam on the questions administered a second time, a comparable number performed less well on the final exam than on the midterm exam. The wide distribution of students' performance on problems administered a second time suggests that most advanced students do not automatically exploit their mistakes as an opportunity for learning, and for repairing, extending, and organizing their knowledge structure. Interviews with a subset of students revealed attitudes towards problem-solving and gave insight into their approach to learning.
Physics Education Research Conference 2009
Part of the PER Conference series
Ann Arbor, Michigan: July 29-30, 2009
Volume 1179, Pages 197-200
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Applied Research
- Active Learning
= Problem Solving
Education - Basic Research
- Assessment
= Self Assessment
- Behavior
= Behavior Development
- Student Characteristics
Quantum Physics
- General
- Upper Undergraduate
- Graduate/Professional
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Formats:
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non-digital
text/html
Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3266713
Access Rights:
Free access and
Available for purchase
A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2009 proceedings is also available.
Restriction:
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
DOI:
10.1063/1.3266713
NSF Numbers:
0653129
055434
PACSs:
01.40.Fk
01.40.Ha
Keywords:
PERC 2009, approach to learning, attitude, case study, problem solving, problem solving, quantum mechanics, reflection, reflection, upper-level undergraduate students
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created October 8, 2009 by Alea Smith
Record Updated:
June 18, 2010 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
November 11, 2009
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