How to promote students ability to solve physics problems - Electronic collection of solved problems in physics DANA MANDIKOVA Department of Physics Education, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

Como apoyar la habilidad de los estudiantes en solución de los problemas de física – La colección electrónica de las tareas de física por resolver DANA MANDIKOVA Department of Physics Education, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

Puebla Czech Republic

Puebla

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6 The main activities of our department Training of future physics teachers Support of in-service teachers Popularization of physics Research in physics education and in physics

Puebla Topics of my interest: Students` misconceptions in physics International researches TIMSS and PISA Experiments in primary school physics Creation of electronic collection of solved problems in physics

Puebla Content of my lecture: Why we prepare this collection Who are the users How does the collection look like Current content and future plans Experience with usage of collection Examples of solved problems

Puebla Why we prepare this collection To solve physics problems is a key ability which students should reach during their physics education Lack of time to solve enough problems especially for students with poorer previous education Lack of suitable study materials for these students

Puebla Our intention To help the users of the collection to learn how to solve physics problems independently To lead them to active thinking about presented physics problems

Puebla How we try to reach it The structure of problems’ solutions is specially designed to substitute tutor’s help and encourage students to solve at least some parts of a problem independently There are various hints, notes with laws and formulas, figures and other means supporting students’ aspiration before detailed solution We have developed our own web interface for these problems which does not show entire solution at the first time

Puebla Who are the users The collection is suitable for independent repeating and improvement of high school curriculum It can help students in introductory university physics courses and reduce their initial difficulties with solving physics problems It could be useful and effective tool for students, who can’t attend the seminars regularly

Puebla Who are the users High school students interested in physics can use this collection as well, e.g. for their independent study and for preparation for school leaving exams or entrance exams to universities We started to assign to the collection also easier high and secondary school problems Availability on public web pages enables usage of the collection by both students and teachers not only at our faculty but also at other universities and high schools

Puebla Who are the authors The author of the technical design and user interface is Zdenka Koupilova The solved problems are prepared mostly as a part of bachelor or diploma theses by students at our faculty, whose study branch is aimed at education We collaborate also with high school teachers and use their experience for reviewing the content structure of particular parts of the collection and also for designing new problems

Puebla User interface of the collection

Puebla User interface of the collection Difficulty L1 - problems on the lower secondary school levelL1 - problems on the lower secondary school level L2 - problems on the upper secondary school levelL2 - problems on the upper secondary school level L3 - problems on the high school level, more difficult problems without using differential and integral calculusL3 - problems on the high school level, more difficult problems without using differential and integral calculus L4 - university level problemsL4 - university level problems

Puebla User interface of the collection Special categories Problem solved graphicallyProblem solved graphically Problem solved by reasoningProblem solved by reasoning Complex problemComplex problem Problem solved by an unusual “trick”Problem solved by an unusual “trick” Problem containing theoryProblem containing theory

Puebla Sections of individual problem Title and assignment We are trying to set the entry physical values to be similar to real life experience We are trying to set the entry physical values to be similar to real life experience The important part of the problem is a picture related to the problem and motivating to solve the problem

Puebla Sections of individual problem - solution Hints are written in a way that helps and motivates users to solve the problem. By including the hints we’re trying to involve users in solving the problem actively

Puebla Sections of individual problem - hint

Puebla Sections of individual problem - solution The analysis contains the whole strategy of the solution By the analysis we’re trying to introduce the physical principle of the problem to the students The analysis doesn’t contain mathematical formulas

Puebla Sections of individual poblem - solution Commented solution describes the solution step by step to the details Includes every logical operation Includes all mathematical steps Includes brief resume of known data, conversions to appropriate units and numerical calculations

Puebla Sections of individual problem Answer - allows the users to check results quickly Comment Describes possible alternative solutionDescribes possible alternative solution Contains e. g. variations of the problem leading to an easier or to more difficult solutionContains e. g. variations of the problem leading to an easier or to more difficult solution Comments if the assignment is realisticComments if the assignment is realistic Highlights things that users may be interested inHighlights things that users may be interested in Links - similar problems are linked together by hyperlinks

Puebla Example of problem

Puebla Sections of individual problem The order of sections in the problem is not fixely given and depends on the author There can be more than one section of same type in a problem Using this variety in problem design, the author leads a reader through the problem in a way optimized to the type of the particular problem The author can also arrange the problem’s sections to move readers to active thinking about the problem

Puebla Example of problem

Puebla Current content - czech version There are more than 750 problems Mechanics – 200Mechanics – 200 Electricity and magnetism – 215Electricity and magnetism – 215 Thermodynamics and molecular physics – 140Thermodynamics and molecular physics – 140 Physics of microworld – 60Physics of microworld – 60 Theoretical mechanics – 30Theoretical mechanics – 30 Mathematical methods – 18Mathematical methods – 18 Mathematical analysis – 110Mathematical analysis – 110

Puebla Current content – other versions English version - 55 problems Mechanics - 31Mechanics - 31 Electricity and magnetism - 24Electricity and magnetism - 24 Polish version – 90 problems Administration interface is in english - no problem to add other versions

Puebla Future plans Our aim is to cover all parts of physics included into the basic university courses Continuously adding problems into already existing parts Administration interface of the collection is still being developed and improved Tasks are translated to english Monitoring usability of the collection

Puebla Experience with usage of collection The collection is used during seminars aimed to problem solving, which support compulsory physics lectures Especially students, which can not attend seminars regularly appreciate this material very much Also high school teachers and students like the project and see it as very helpful and useful

Puebla Users opinion Monitoring use of the collection Feedback questionnaire (158 filled before )Feedback questionnaire (158 filled before ) 49 % using regularly 49 % using regularly Users appreciate the structure of tasks - especially hints and analysis and database interface.Users appreciate the structure of tasks - especially hints and analysis and database interface. Users are also students of other universities and high school students and their teachers

Puebla How is the collection used

Puebla How is the collection used

Puebla Number of visits Number of visits 1.3. – Total number of visits: Number of unique visitors: Average time of one visit: 2 min 51 s

Puebla Where are the users from? Mexico – 22 visits

Puebla Examples of problems A block struck by a bullet Cyclotron

Web address of english version:

Puebla If you want to join, please contact us:

Puebla Thank you for attention