Instructor's Goals for Using Example Solutions in Introductory Physics
William Mamudi, Western Michigan University
Tuesday, November 6, 3:45 p.m. SB110
In light of recommendations from the literature for modeling expert-like problem solving approaches, we investigated instructors' goals for providing example solutions in introductory physics courses. Twenty-four graduate teaching assistants and 30 faculty were asked: 1) in a general context, to describe their main purposes for providing example solutions, and 2) specifically, to identify their considerations when comparing three example solutions that reflect different pedagogical views. Differences between the faculty and TAs will be discussed in order to describe possible progression of ideas throughout an instructor's professional career. For example, faculty explicitly emphasize the importance of developing expert-like problem solving when discussing their goals in the general context. In contrast TAs refer to the goal of developing expert-like problem solving mainly in an implicit manner, when examining specific solutions, and emphasize other values, such as helping students develop conceptual understanding, when asked explicitly on their purposes in the general context.
