PHYSICS PROBLEM SOLVING

Episode Delineation
When does a new thought take over? This is the basis of defining an episode.
Defining the episode is one of the most difficult, and subjective, aspects of this analysis.
Groups may use recognizable episode delineators, such as "OK, what's next?" There also
might be a change of speakers. In a rigid analysis, using the Toulmin categories, there
would be a series of statements leading up to the claim. But an episode does not
necessarily begin or end with a claim. For example, an episode may begin with a request.
Since the order of events in an episode is a part of the research questions, I tried to not
prejudice the outcomes by saying all episodes must begin (or end) with a claim.
Group 4A provides an example of a coded, delineated discussion. Further
examples will be drawn from this group and other groups’ discussions. Many of the
examples will reappear later. This repeated use will parallel my increasingly deeper
understanding of what the students were doing. In Table 3-1 (page 75), and the tables
that follows, the group’s discussion is presented in the first column (Dialog), the
statement identification (Coding) is in the second column, and my comments are in the
third column. These comments will help the reader understand my interpretation of what
the group is doing. When appropriate, the third column will contain diagrams taken from
the group’s written solution. If a diagram changes substantially I will show it as it exists
at the beginning of the transcript segment and then at the end. The lines are numbered
sequentially for easy reference. In some cases, I broke sentences by a single speaker into
separate lines during my initial editing (e.g., 42, 43, 44, 45, 46). In some cases, as I was
coding statements, I realized there was a significant shift in the thought and broke the
sentence into smaller fragments (e.g., 41, 41B, 41C). This second numbering method