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Previous research on problem diagrams suggested that including a supportive diagram, one that does not provide necessary problem solving information, may bring little, or even negative, benefit to students' problem solving success. We tested the usefulness of problem diagrams on 12 different physics problems (6A/B experiments) in our massive open online course. By analyzing over 8000 student responses in total, we found that including a problem diagram that contains no significant additional information only slightly improves the first attempt correct rate for the few most spatially complex problems, and has little impact on either the final correct percentage or the time spent on solving the problem. On the other hand, in half of the cases, removing the diagram significantly increased the fraction of students' drawing their own diagrams during problem solving. The increase in drawing behavior is largely independent of students' physics abilities. In summary, our results suggest that for many physics problems, the benefit of a diagram is exceedingly small and may not justify the effort of creating one.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 010110
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=14357">Chen, Z, N. Dimirci, Y. Choi, and D. Pritchard. "To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13, no. 1, (February 17, 2017): 010110.</a>
![]() Z. Chen, N. Dimirci, Y. Choi, and D. Pritchard, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13 (1), 010110 (2017), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110).
![]() Z. Chen, N. Dimirci, Y. Choi, and D. Pritchard, To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13 (1), 010110 (2017), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110>.
![]() Chen, Z., Dimirci, N., Choi, Y., & Pritchard, D. (2017, February 17). To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 13(1), 010110. Retrieved May 1, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110
![]() Chen, Z, N. Dimirci, Y. Choi, and D. Pritchard. "To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13, no. 1, (February 17, 2017): 010110, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110 (accessed 1 May 2025).
![]() Chen, Zhongzhou, Neset Dimirci, Youn-Jeng Choi, and David E. Pritchard. "To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 13.1 (2017): 010110. 1 May 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110>.
![]() @article{
Author = "Zhongzhou Chen and Neset Dimirci and Youn-Jeng Choi and David E. Pritchard",
Title = {To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments},
Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.},
Volume = {13},
Number = {1},
Pages = {010110},
Month = {February},
Year = {2017}
}
![]() %A Zhongzhou Chen %A Neset Dimirci %A Youn-Jeng Choi %A David E. Pritchard %T To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 13 %N 1 %D February 17, 2017 %P 010110 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Journal Article %A Chen, Zhongzhou %A Dimirci, Neset %A Choi, Youn-Jeng %A Pritchard, David E. %D February 17, 2017 %T To draw or not to draw? Examining the necessity of problem diagrams using massive open online course experiments %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 13 %N 1 %P 010110 %8 February 17, 2017 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010110 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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