The Effect of Hints and Model Answers in a Student-Controlled Problem-Solving Program for Secondary Physics Education

Many students experience difficulties in solving applied physics problems. Most programs that want students to improve problem-solving skills are concerned with the development of content knowledge. Physhint is an example of a student-controlled computer program that supports students in developing their strategic knowledge in combination with support at the level of content knowledge. The program allows students to ask for hints related to the episodes involved in solving a problem. The main question to be answered in this article is whether the program succeeds in improving strategic knowledge by allowing for more effective practice time for the student (practice effect) and/or by focusing on the systematic use of the available help (systematic hint-use effect). Analysis of qualitative data from an experimental study conducted previously show that both the expected effectiveness of practice and the systematic use of episode-related hints account for the enhanced problem-solving skills of students.     

Teachers' approaches towards word problem solving: Elaborating or restricting the problem context

This contribution reports about a seven-month long video-based study in two regular Flemish sixth-grade mathematics classrooms. The focus is on teachers' approaches towards problem solving. In our analysis we distinguished between a paradigmatic-oriented (focus on the mathematical structure) and a narrative-oriented (focus on the contextual aspects of a problem) perspective on the problem-solving process. The findings have highlighted that the word problem-solving lessons were more dominated by a paradigmatic than a narrative approach and that interventions in which the relation between the mathematics structure and the realistic constraints of the problem context is addressed, were rare.     

基于"问题解决"模式的生物学MCAI教学设计

基于"问题解决"模式下的多媒体辅助教学(MCAI)取代传统的生物学教学,能更好地表达新课程理念的要求,也更能适用时代的发展.本文着重论述了生物学"问题解决"模式下的MCAI教学设计.     

高校图书馆管理系统浅析

从系统论的角度看 ,高校图书馆是社会大系统中的一个子系统 ,高校图书馆管理是一个系统工程。系统论为图书馆学提供了一整套全新的思想方法和理论。用系统论的观点和方法考察高校图书馆在高校信息交流系统中的地位和作用 ,分析高校图书馆结构组成、要素与要素的关系、系统与环境的关系 ,以协调系统的内外关系 ,增强高校图书馆的功能。     

Gender theory as a tool for analyzing science teaching

This study examines to what extent experienced teachers are aware of gender issues in the science classroom. It also explores how an introduction to gender theory might alter this awareness. Teachers wrote their reflections about a real classroom situation. They were then asked to analyse the same situation after having read texts that discussed gender theory concepts. The fourteen teachers' understanding about gender and society were challenged. Some teachers were able to analyse the case differently by applying gender theory, others discussed the case on a more general level, while one teacher showed signs of resistance regarding gender theory.     

William Wales and the 1769 transit of Venus: puzzle solving and the determination of the astronomical unit

According to Thomas Kuhn, a significant part of “normal science” is the fact gathering, empirical work which is intended to illustrate an existing paradigm. Some of this effort focuses on the determination of physical constants such as the astronomical unit (AU). For Kuhn, normal science is also what prepares students for membership in a particular scientific community and is embodied in some form in our science textbooks. However, neither Kuhn nor the textbook says much about the individuals who practice normal science, especially those who had been relegated to the “hack” duties of long and arduous measurement and calculation. In this paper, to provide a context for students of astronomy, I will outline the story of the determination of the AU and in particular the contribution of William Wales, an obscure British astronomer. Wales, toiling in the shadow of Halley (of Halley’s comet fame), Mason and Dixon (of Mason and Dixon line fame) and the infamous Captain Cook endured a brutal winter in northern Canada for a brief glimpse of the 1769 transit of Venus. In the end, Wales supplied one small piece of the puzzle in the determination of the AU and he exemplified the human spirit and persistence of a Kuhnian “puzzle solver”.

Taiwanese high school students’ perspectives on effective mathematics teaching behaviors

This study developed a questionnaire composed of teaching-behavior items obtained from pioneering empirical studies, for measuring students’ perspectives on effective mathematics teaching. The questionnaire was used to survey 4514 high school students in Taiwan, where Western innovative mathematics instruction has been promoted since a curriculum reform in 1993. Exploratory factor analysis revealed factors contributing to how teachers should handle teaching materials, use representations and teaching methods, and guide problem solving. Ten factors were identified. Seven are rooted in traditional Chinese educational culture (e.g., detailed illustration in teaching problem solving), and three were influenced by Western culture (e.g., student active-learning activities in teaching methods). The findings show that teaching behaviors that either require a considerable amount of time or minimize use of time are relatively less favored, including learning in small groups or through games in the student active-learning activities factor and only providing important steps in the speedy lecture factor.     

First-year engineering students' difficulties in visualization and drawing tasks

Visualizing parts, meaning interpreting the views of an object which has been represented in a drawing, is a fundamental skill in engineering. However, learning deficiencies and difficulties have been observed among engineering undergraduates, and there is a high failure rate in drawing courses. In order to determine the origin of these deficiencies, a qualitative design has been developed based on personal interviews. A group of students was interviewed to analyse the solution process they applied to three visualization problems with increasing difficulty. The steps they took were structured and categorized along with the difficulties and deficiencies which were detected. Most of the students affirmed that they did not possess methodology to solve these problems and relied on trial and error and intuition. The results seem to indicate that there are specific difficulties and that it is possible to define a set of skills which guide students through the process of visualizing parts.