Problem-Solving Processes of High and Average Performers in Physics

Abstract

This study examined cognitive processing differences reported between experts and novices in physics, in order to compare corresponding processes in high and average school achievers. It explored the possibility that the cognitive processes of the high achiever more closely resemble those of experts. Subjects were 12 boys and 9 girls from a grade eleven enriched physics course, divided into groups of high and average achievement. Two graduate students in physics and a high school physics teacher served as experts. All were asked to think aloud while solving five physics problems. The protocols were transcribed and segmented into clauses. Each clause was categorized as a metacognitive, planning, or content statement. Further analysis of the content statements indicated whether they were based on given or prior knowledge. Experts and high performers made more correct metastatements and more references to prior knowledge than the average performers, indicating similarities between high performance at the high school level and expertise in physics.

More from the Water Jars: A Reanalysis of Problem-Solving Performance Among Gifted and Nongifted Children

“…Were they merely careless? Coleman and Shore (1991) also found that gifted children, like adult experts, reach beyond the information given in tasks, but the experts do so legitimately. This strategy may have overgeneralized.…”

Pointing to parallels in ability-related differences in the use of metacognition in academic and psychomotor tasks

“…Students who are identified as gifted in their specific academic task demonstrate increased prior knowledge and greater access to it (Coleman & Shore, 1991;Steiner & Carr, 2003;Pelletier & Shore, 2003;Shore & Kanevsky, 1993). Their knowledge is better organized and they readily interconnect new knowledge to prior knowledge in numerous ways.…”

“…Not only are they more cognizant of available strategies, but their superior knowledge base enables them to actually use the appropriate strategies in different situations (Carr et al, 1996). They consequently plan, check, monitor and evaluate their performance more accurately (Borkowski & Kurtz, 1987;Coleman & Shore, 1991;Shore, 2000;Shore & Kanevsky, 1993).…”

Metacognition and High Intellectual Ability: Insights from the Study of Learning-Disabled Gifted Students

“…Some of that research has been done with students identified as academically gifted (cf. Borkowski & Peck, 1986;Coleman & Shore, 1991;Devall, 1982;Shore. 1986;Shore & Kanevsky, 1993; Sternberg & Davidson, 1985).…”