PHYSICS PROBLEM SOLVING

(^) descriptive paragraph for each group (See Table 2-9, page 65). I readily acquired a feel
for the personality of a group, the kinds of statements they prefer, and the order in which
they use them. In a sense the transcripts, and the video tapes functioned much like an
anthropologist’s “informants.” Table 3-17 summarizes the number of physics description
episodes coded and flowcharted for each group. It was my intention for about eight to
ten episodes to determine a prototype, but the case of five groups, less than eight were
available and the reasons for this are noted in the table. I excluded episodes in which
there was a lengthy off-task discussion or the teaching assistant intervened or interrupted
the class. These kinds of discussions tended to occur at the beginning or end of the class
period.
Group Description Physics
Episodes Coded
Episodes used to Determine
Prototype
Comments
2A 12 8
2B 16 10
2D 15 8 Smaller episodes combined; digression
3A 12 8
3B 12 10
4A 16 11
4B 17 11
4C 15 6 Lengthy digressions.
4D 15 7 Poor tape quality; TA intervention.
5A 12 6 Rushed through Physics Description.
5B 8 6 Verbose but few claims.
5C 11 6 Digression; many Cl statements.
6B 15 8 Smaller episodes combined; digression
7A^17 8 Smaller episodes combined; digression
Table 3-17. Episodes Coded and Flowcharted.