PHYSICS PROBLEM SOLVING

(^)
relation to it, and what kinds of acts one must perform to get to the goal. The total set of
mental operations used in the effort to move from the given data to the goal is what
Simon and Newell call a “production system” or a program. In the course of carrying out
the program, the solver notices whether any step, or series of steps, decreases the
distance to the goal; if so, you continue with it, but if not, you move on to the next step or
steps in the program (Hunt, 1982).
Due to the narrow limits of our short-term memory, we work our way through a
problem in serial fashion, taking one thing at a time rather than simultaneously searching
in disconnected parts of the problem. This avoids a trial and error approach. Sometimes
the solver searches experience for an analogy, because all learning is based on prior
knowledge and experience. (This emphasis on prior knowledge and experience is also a
characteristic of constructivism in science education.) Simon and Newell’s work forms
the foundation of subsequent research in problem solving.
Some of the earliest work recognized that there are stages of development in a
person's knowledge or skill. For example, Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1984) delineated five
stages of skill acquisition in any type of "problem solving":
(^) Novice: learns to recognize various objective factors and features relevant to the
skill and acquires rules for determining actions based upon those facts and features. Advanced Beginner: Performance improves to a marginally acceptable level only
after the novice has considerable experience in coping with real situations. Uses context-free facts.
(^) situational elements present in a realCompetence: With more experience, the number of recognizable context-free and -world circumstance eventually becomes
overwhelming. People lear n a hierarchical procedure of decision making.