PHYSICS PROBLEM SOLVING

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are numerous people I wish to thank for encouraging me, prodding me,
helping me and inspiring me. To my friends and relatives: You will never again hear me
say, “I’m sorry, I can’t, I have to work on my dissertation.” To my former colleagues at
WCAL-FM, St. Olaf College, thanks for the tunes that kept me sane on weekend
afternoons.
Dr. Konrad Mauersberger, now of the Max Planck Institute, graciously agreed to
my videotaping of his Physics 1041 and 1042 students. When I served as Konrad’s
teaching assistant, I learned much about teaching physics from a master teacher. With
out the cooperation of the Physics 1041 and 1042, this research would not have been
possible. Thanks gang!
Several other University of Minnesota faculty where helpful: Dr. Frances
Lawrenz of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, provided me with references,
encouragement, thoughtful questions, and ideas. Dr. David Johnson introduced me to
group dynamics. Dr. Don MacEachern taught me everything known about statistical
analysis in education, and I apologize to Don that there is only one ANOVA in this
dissertation! Dr. Roger Jones asked me to team-teach a calculus-based physics course
and introduce cooperative group problem solving to our students. Dr. Kenneth Heller
lead the development of the problem-solving strategy and took a active interest in my
research.
My fellow science education graduate students kept asking me, “When are you
going to finish?” Most of them beat me to the finish line but never hesitated to encourage
me: Dr. Rob Lonning, Dr. Ron Keith, Dr. Bruce Palmquist, Dr. Doug Huffman, Dr. Val
Olness. I am especially grateful to Ron and Bruce for volunteering to be videotape
operators, and to Bruce for his thorough independent evaluations of the 14 group’s
written solutions. Scott Anderson carefully transcribed the videotapes.
My thanks to the librarians at Normandale Community College who obtained
reference materials for me. Joyce Carey and Rex Gaskill of the Speech Communication
Department provided me with numerous references on Toulmin and creative conflict in
groups. Dr. Bill Chartrand proof read the entire manuscript.