Understanding and Teaching Problem‐Solving in Physics

Summaries

English

We describe a systematic study of skills for solving problems in basic physics, a domain of practical significance for instruction, but not of prohibitive complexity. Our studies show that an inexperienced student tends to solve a problem by assembling individual equations. By contrast, an expert solves a problem by a process of successive refinements, first describing the main problem features by seemingly vague words or pictures, and only later considering the problem in greater detail in more mathematical language. We have formulated explicit theoretical models with such features and have supported them by some detailed observations of individuals. In addition, experimental instruction incorporating such features seems to improve problem‐solving performance significantly. These investigations yield thus some basic insights into thinking processes effective for problem‐solving. Furthermore, they offer the prospect that these insights can be used to teach students improved problem‐solving skills and to modify common teaching practices which inhibit the development of such skills.     

Formale Methoden für sicherheitskritische Software – Der KIV-Ansatz

Zusammenfassung. Im Spektrum der qualit?tssichernden Ma?nahmen im Software-Entwurf geh?ren formale Spezifikations- und Verifikationsmethoden heute zweifellos zu den st?rksten Waffen in puncto Fehlererkennung und Nachweis von Korrektheitseigenschaften. Mit zunehmender Wirtschaftlichkeit formaler Methoden und in Kombination mit klassischen Techniken der Qualit?tssicherung ergeben sich dadurch neue, weitreichende M?glichkeiten. Die Wirksamkeit formaler Methoden beruht im wesentlichen auf der Mathematisierung von Teilen der Software-Entwicklung und dem damit verbundenen Zwang zur Pr?zision. Auf dieser Basis k?nnen Fehler entdeckt, Korrektheits- und Sicherheitseigenschaften nachgewiesen und die Auswirkungen von System?nderungen formal analysiert werden. Diese Methoden eignen sich besonders für Anwendungen, an die traditionell h?chste Zuverl?ssigkeits- und Qualit?tsanforderungen gestellt werden. Dieser Artikel gibt einen überblicküber verschiedene Einsatzm?glichkeiten formaler Spezifikations- und Verifikationsmethoden und stellt das KIV System vor, ein fortgeschrittenes Werkzeug zur Anwendung formaler Methoden. Am Beispiel von KIV wird der aktuelle Leistungsstand und die Wirtschaftlichkeit der Technologie erl?utert. Eingegangen am 2. Februar 1999 / Angenommen am 10. Juli 1999     

#Socialmedia: A Preliminary Report of Social Networking Use Among University and College Counseling Center Mental Health Providers

The social networking use of university and college counseling center (UCCC) mental health providers has not been widely researched. Most of the 20 providers surveyed in this preliminary study reported engaging in social networking despite identifying pros and cons to its use. Participants’ reported use of social media may indicate that social networking sites are used primarily to glean information. Risks associated with social networking for UCCC practitioners are discussed and implications for training and social media use are provided.     

Toward an applied science of education: Some key questions and directions

Recent developments suggest the possibility that education might be developed into an effective applied science. In this paper I try to identify and discuss some of the key questions which should be addressed to achieve this goal: (1) Education should be approached by the same intellectual standards as those prevalent in all other successful applied sciences. (2) It would be both intellectually challenging and practically useful to address systematically the teaching of higher-level cognitive skills. Such efforts should be based on analyses of the underlying human information processing and could profit from recent work in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence. (3) Major improvements in educational delivery could be achieved by exploiting present technological means to provide most students with excellent private nonhuman tutors who can be supplemented by human teachers where these are most uniquely useful. Such an approach can be effective and practical by investing first-rate talent and substantial efforts in initial development work. (4) Universities could contribute significantly to the advancement of education by transcending their present limited educational role and striving in education for the kind of excellence and innovative leadership pursued by them in other applied sciences.This paper is a slightly revised version of a talk given at a symposium held in Boston, in February 1976, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.