Detail Page

Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs
written by Eric Burkholder, Argenta M. Price, Michael Flynn, and Carl E. Wieman
Science and engineering (S & E) programs frequently claim that they teach undergraduate students how to be good problem solvers. However, there has been little research to-date that demonstrates this, in no small part due to the fact that measuring problem-solving is quite difficult. Our recent work characterized experts' problem-solving as carrying out a series of several dozen decisions made in solving novel problems; these decisions are remarkably consistent across S & E disciplines. Based on this, we developed a template for an assessment that measures students' problem-solving skills by posing questions that require them to make a subset of these expert decisions in suitable contexts. Preliminary results show that the assessment captures a wide range of problem-solving skills among students, and exposes key weaknesses in problem-solving. Most importantly, the data show that students' predictive frameworks--their mental models of a system's key features and the relationships between them-are less robust than experts', limiting students' ability to make predictions and explain observations while problem-solving. We provide detailed results from a pilot-test of this assessment in the context of chemical engineering design, which applies many concepts from physics. These results point to a general deficiency in undergraduate S & E programs: students are not being given the opportunity to practice expert decision-making, and thus do not develop robust predictive frameworks by the end of their undergraduate programs.
Physics Education Research Conference 2019
Part of the PER Conference series
Provo, UT: July 24-25, 2019
Pages 75-80
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Foundations
- Assessment
= Instruments
- Problem Solving
= Expert-Novice Comparisons
- Student Characteristics
= Skills
- Lower Undergraduate
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
Intended Users Formats Ratings
- Researchers
- application/pdf
  • Currently 0.0/5

Want to rate this material?
Login here!


Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2019…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Burkholder
Keyword:
PERC 2019
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created January 2, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
January 6, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
January 6, 2020
Other Collections:

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
E. Burkholder, A. Price, M. Flynn, and C. Wieman, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170).
AJP/PRST-PER
E. Burkholder, A. Price, M. Flynn, and C. Wieman, Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, 2019, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170>.
APA Format
Burkholder, E., Price, A., Flynn, M., & Wieman, C. (2019, July 24-25). Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170
Chicago Format
Burkholder, E, A. Price, M. Flynn, and C. Wieman. "Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2019, Provo, UT, July 24-25, 2019. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170 (accessed 19 April 2024).
MLA Format
Burkholder, Eric, Argenta M. Price, Michael Flynn, and Carl Wieman. "Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs." Physics Education Research Conference 2019. Provo, UT: 2019. 75-80 of PER Conference. 19 Apr. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Eric Burkholder and Argenta M. Price and Michael Flynn and Carl Wieman", Title = {Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2019}, Pages = {75-80}, Address = {Provo, UT}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 24-25}, Year = {2019} }
Refer Export Format

%A Eric Burkholder %A Argenta M. Price %A Michael Flynn %A Carl Wieman %T Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs %S PER Conference %D July 24-25 2019 %P 75-80 %C Provo, UT %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %O July 24-25 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Burkholder, Eric %A Price, Argenta M. %A Flynn, Michael %A Wieman, Carl %D July 24-25 2019 %T Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs %B Physics Education Research Conference 2019 %C Provo, UT %P 75-80 %S PER Conference %8 July 24-25 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15258&DocID=5170


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.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

Assessing problem-solving in science and engineering programs:


Know of another related resource? Login to relate this resource to it.
Save to my folders

Contribute

Related Materials

Similar Materials