• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-55
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• 1988

This study intended to find the differences between expert's and novice's thinking processes when they solve physics problems. Five physics professors and twenty sophomore students in a physics department were participated in the study. The researcher investigated their thinking processes in solving three physics problems on NEWTON's law of motion. The researcher accepted so called "Thinking Aloud" method. The thinking processes were recorded and transfered into protocols. The protocols were analysised by problem solving process coding system which was developed by the researcher on the basis of Larkin's problem solving process model. The results were as follows: (1) There was no difference of time required in solving physics problem of low difficulty between expert and novices; but, it takes 1.5 times longer for novices than experts in solving physics problems which difficulties are high and average. (2) Novices used working forward strategy and working backward strategy at the similiar rate in solving physics problems which difficulties were average and low. while Novices mo mostly used working backward strategy in solving physic problems which difficulty was high. Experts mostly used working forward strategy in solving physics problems whose difficulties was average and low, however experts used working forward strategy and working backward strategy at the similiar rate in solving physics problem which difficulty was high. (3) Novices usually wrote only a few information on the diagram of figure they drawn, on the other hand experts usually wrote almost all the information which are necessary for solving the problems. (4) Experts spent much time in understand the problem and evaluation stage than novices did, however experts spent less time in plan stage than novices did. (5) Physics problems are solved in sequence of understanding the problem, plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluation steps regardless of problem difficulty.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.31-47
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• 1993

This study was intended to find the characteristics of the middle school students' thinking processes and problem spaces when they solved the physics problems. Ten ninth grade students in Chon-Buk Do, Korea were participated in this study. The researcher investigated their thinking processes in solving 5 physics problems on electric circuit. "Thinking aloud" method was used as a research method. The students' thinking processes were recorded using an audio tape recorder and transfered into protocols. The protocols were analyzed by problem solving process coding system which was developed by Lee(1987) on the basis of Larkin's problem solving process model. The results are as follows : (1) On the average 2.85 items were solved among 5 test items, and only one person could solve all of the items correctly. (2) Problems were solved in sequence of understanding the problem, planning, carrying out the plan, and evaluating steps regardless of the problem difficulty. (3) In regard to the thinking process steps, there was no difference between the good solvers and the poor ones. But in the detail performance of problem solving, the former was different from the latter in respect with using the design of general solving procedure. (4) The basic problem spaces by the item analysis were divided into two classes. One was the problem space by using Qualitative approach in problem solving, and the other was one by using Quantitative approach. As novices in physics problem solving, most of the students used the problem space by using the Quantitative approach.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.67-77
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• 1991

In this paper, current research papers on Physics Problem Solving were analyzed according to the types of research purpose, method, subject and content of Physics, by using 3 Proceedings and 4 kinds of Journal, that is, the International Workshop(1983, Paris, France) and Conference (1983, Utrecht, The Netherlands) and Seminar(1987, Cornell University, U. S. A.) on Physics Education, and Journal of Research in Science Teaching (1984-1990) and Science Education (1986-1990). and Inter national Journal of Science Education(l987-1988) and Cognitive Science(1989-1990). There were 98 research papers on Problem Solving and among them 37 papers on Physics Problem Solving were selected for analyzing. The results of analysis are as follows; 1) The studies on Model of Novice Student were 22(59%), And those on Model of Desired Preformance, on Model of learning and on Model of Teaching were all much the same. 2) The theoretical studies were 10(27%), and the experimental ones 27(73%). Among the experimental studies, there were 16(59%) by using the written test, and 7(26%) by using the thinking aloud method. 3) The studies about university students as subjects were 20(54%). Probably, it seems the reason that most of researchers on Physics Problem Solving were professors of university or graduate students. 4) Among the various fields of Physics, the studies on Mechanics were 24(63%) and those on E1ectromagnetics 6(16%). or graduate students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.774-784
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• 2004

In the previous study, six factors which could disturb students' problem solving in an everyday context were identified and discussed. In this study, teaching materials to help students overcome those disturbing factors for successful problem solving in an everyday context were developed and applied to twenty-nine grade 10 students, and the effects of teaching materials were analyzed. According to the analysis of the correlation between the performance in everyday context problem solving and the benefit from the teaching materials, it was found that students who received the help from the teaching materials showed better performance with statistical significance. And students noted that teaching materials were helpful for them to solve the physics problems. Analyzing the overall performance of students in solving the everyday context problem, students in the experimental group showed better performance than the control group and this performance difference was larger among low-score students in school science testing. However, these differences were not statistically significant because the sample size was small. And, based on the analysis of interviews with students, it was also found that some students who showed low performance might not receive help from the teaching materials because the materials were too complex to be read easily, or because the basic concepts needed to solve the problem were not understood. Therefore, the results obtained from the interviews will be used to design more effective teaching for problem solving in an everyday context.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.85-102
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to analyze students' physics problem solving processes and to find the patterns of their problem spaces when high school and university students solved the physics problems. A total of 51 students in a high school and in two universities participated in this study. Their thinking processes in solving 5 physics problems on electric circuit were recorded by using 'thinking aloud' method and were transferal into protocols. 'The protocols were analyzed by the coding system of problem solving process. One of the major theoretical contributions of the computer simulation approach to problem solving is the idea of problem space. Such a concept of problem space was applied to physics problems on electric circuit in this study, and students' protocols were analyzed by the basic problem spaces which were made up from the item analysis by the researcher. The results are as follows: 1) On the average 4.0 test items among 5 ones were solved successfully by all subjects, and all of the items were solved correctly by only 19 persons among all of them. 2) In regard to the general steps of problem solving process, there was little difference for each item between the good solvers and the poor ones. But according to the degree of difficulty of task there was a good deal of difference. For a complex problem all of 4 steps were used by most of students, but for a simple one only 3 steps except evaluating step were used by most of them. 3) It was found in this study that most of students used mainly the microscopic approach, that is, a method of applying Ohm's law on electric circuit simply and immediately, not using the properties of electric circuits. And also it was observed that most of students used the soloing tom below, that is, a solving path in which they were the first to calculate physical Quantities of circuit elements, before they caught hold of the meaning of the given problem regardless of the degree of difficulty.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 1990

In this study, novices' protocols were investigated on the basis of Mayer's analysis of mathematical problem solving. These protocols were obtained by Jae-Sool Kwon and Seong-Wang Lee(1988) by means of thinking aloud while 20 sophomore students in a department of physics education were solving physics problems on Newton's low of motion. The results of investiqation are as follows; (1) We proposed an effective method in analyzing protocols on physics porblem solving (2) We could find the defective types of knowledge of individuals who got an incorrect solution, through analyzing the cause of failure individually (3) The fact that many students considered first the frictional force as muntiplying the coefficient of friction by perpendicular force rather than as resistance of motion, was found And students' misconception on the coefficient of friction was found. (4) If such analyses of test items and protocols are used in physics education, they will be very useful for finding the faults of problem-solving process, and for setting and scoring subjective problems in physics

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.502-509
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze physics problem solving processes according to students' cognitive style in the area of 'Force and Motion' at high school level. Students who have already learned t e area of 'Force and Motion' during the first semester of the 10th grade have taken physics test and cognitive style test to choose students who have basic knowledge of physics and reflective or impulsive style. Four students who got over 19 points in the cognitive style test were selected as reflective students, and another four students who got below 12 points were selected as impulsive students. After explaining the purpose and procedure of this study, think-aloud method was introduced to the students, and the students practiced it. After that, the students solved three quantitative and qualitative problems each. Then, the questionnaire on the belief system on physics and physics problem solving and prerequisite knowledge test were also administered. By recording the students' problem solving processes, protocol was made and analyzed. After solving the problems, the students expressed their confidence, intimacy, and preference on each problem by the five point Likert scale. Impulsive students tended to succeed in solving more problems, less intimate, and more spontaneous and positive in seeking alternative solution when confronted with unacquainted problems. On the other hand, reflective students used more time in executing the problems even without planning, and used more time in solving problems and verification. Whether making effective plan or not was important rather than how much time they used in the planning step. In addition, repeating steps were more likely shown to impulsive students; they tended to be attached to their first idea.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.526-532
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to analyze physics problem solving processes to qualitative and quantitative problems in the area of 'Force and Motion' in high school science. The students who have already learned the area of 'Force and Motion' during the first semester of 10th grade have taken physics test to choose students who have basic knowledge of physics. Eight students were selected. After explaining the purpose and the procedure of this study, think-aloud method was instructed to the students, and the students practiced it. After that, the students solved three problems in each quantitative and qualitative type. Then, the questionnaire of belief system on physics and physics problem solving and the prerequisite knowledge test were administered. By recording the students' solving processes, protocol was made and analyzed. After solving problems, the students expressed their confidence, intimacy, and preference. Quantitative problems needed much time at planning step than qualitative problems did. Moreover, solving time was longer and repeating frequency was more than those of qualitative problems. It seemed because even though the students qualitatively knew the answer, they should determine the given quantitative conditions, consider formulae, and recall the specific numbers. Since the students usually got access to many quantitative items in their physics study, they were accustomed to solve problems by using formulae. In addition, they put confidence in formulae, so they tended to solve problems quantitatively. As the result, they preferred quantitative problems to qualitative problems.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.466-477
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• 2002

It was proposed that proper problem solving practice should improve students' questioning in physics. In the previous researches, improvement in students' questioning was observed after practice of making questions given the examples of desirable questions. In this study, the problem solving strategies used by experts were introduced to students in the form of step-by-step guide to follow in problem solving practice. The directions in the guide were concrete and operational for students to understand the expected behaviors explicitly. It was assumed that students could pinpoint the difficulty specifically through this guide, which would result in positive effects on students' recognition and expression of their own questions. The subjects in this study were college freshmen enrolled in the introductory physics for science or engineering major. The physics problems from the textbook were solved and practiced in the traditional way for controlled group. Worksheets designed to follow experts' problem solving strategies were used for the experimental group. Two groups were taught in the same way during lecture part of the class. Students were asked to describe the difficulties they had during homeworks or tests. Questions in this study means these descriptions written by students although they were not necessarily in the form of interrogative sentences. The questions were analyzed both in quantity and quality. Quantitatively, more students spontaneously turned in their questions in the experimental group than in the controlled group. Regarding the quality, there were more students in the experimental group than in the controlled group who described their difficulties in detail or recognized the need for the procedural knowledge.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2002.02a
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• pp.82-82
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• 2002