Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum
written by
Elizabeth Gire
Expert-novice comparisons have been a productive research tool for investigating many aspects of physics education, including physics conceptions, views about physics, and problem solving activities. These comparisons have typically focused on differences between introductory physics students and physics professor. This thesis examines undergraduate physics majors, who have an intermediate amount of experience studying physics. Known expert-novice distinctions are used to characterize physics majors' views about science and problem solving activities. Views about science are measured with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey. Follow- up interviews allowed students to elaborate on their responses to the survey and informed the interpretation of the survey data. During the interviews, students were asked to solve two physics problems. The students' approaches to these problems and their problem solving heuristics are characterized using a scheme developed from known expert-novice differences. It was found that undergraduate physics majors' have many views and problem solving abilities that are similar to those of experts. The implications for teaching physics and physics education research are discussed.
Editor's Note: See the Mirror link under "Item Details" below to access this dissertation in the UC-San Diego eScholarship database.
University:
University of California, San Diego
Academic Department: Physics Pages 198
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=16501">Gire, Elizabeth. "Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum." Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2007.</a>
![]() E. Gire, , Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2007, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716).
![]() E. Gire, Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2007, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716>.
![]() Gire, E. (2007, January 1). Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2007). Retrieved May 3, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716
![]() Gire, Elizabeth. "Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum." Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2007. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716 (accessed 3 May 2025).
![]() Gire, Elizabeth. "Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum." Ph.D.. 1 Jan. 2007. University of California, San Diego, 2007. 3 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716>.
![]() @phdthesis{
Author = "Elizabeth Gire",
Title = {Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum},
School = {University of California, San Diego},
Type = {Ph.D.},
Month = {January},
Year = {2007}
}
![]() %A Elizabeth Gire %T Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum %R Ph.D. %D January 1, 2007 %P 198 %I University of California, San Diego %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716 %O Physics %O application/pdf %O Ph.D. ![]() %0 Thesis %A Gire, Elizabeth %D January 1, 2007 %T Between the poles: Locating physics majors in the expert-novice continuum %B Physics %I University of California, San Diego %P 198 %8 January 1, 2007 %9 Ph.D. %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=16501&DocID=5716 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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