Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats
written by
Jonathan V. Mahadeo, Adrienne L. Traxler, and Eric Brewe
This study investigates differences in problem-solving performance between three different introductory physics course formats at Florida International University. The course formats--lecture+laboratory (LL), inquiry-based (IQB), and lecture+laboratory+recitation (LLR)--all incorporated two Advanced Placement (AP) questions into their final exams. Students' written responses were evaluated via an AP scoring rubric, and during this scoring, we observed marked differences in solution behavior between the three course formats. To further investigate these differences, we used the framework of epistemic games to analyze student responses. To apply this framework to written work, an epistemic game rubric was created. Application of this rubric yielded game profiles for each of the course formats, allowing us to highlight and compare course characteristics. These profiles of epistemic game distributions were then examined via chi-squared tests to quantify differences in the tools and strategies students used in their solutions.
Physics Education Research Conference 2013
Part of the PER Conference series
Portland, OR: July 17-18, 2013
Pages 241-244
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.
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=13175">Mahadeo, J, A. Traxler, and E. Brewe. "Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, July 17-18, 2013.</a>
J. Mahadeo, A. Traxler, and E. Brewe, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722).
J. Mahadeo, A. Traxler, and E. Brewe, Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722>.
Mahadeo, J., Traxler, A., & Brewe, E. (2013, July 17-18). Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR. Retrieved April 3, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722
Mahadeo, J, A. Traxler, and E. Brewe. "Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, July 17-18, 2013. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722 (accessed 3 April 2025).
Mahadeo, Jonathan, Adrienne Traxler, and Eric Brewe. "Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats." Physics Education Research Conference 2013. Portland, OR: 2013. 241-244 of PER Conference. 3 Apr. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722>.
@inproceedings{
Author = "Jonathan Mahadeo and Adrienne Traxler and Eric Brewe",
Title = {Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2013},
Pages = {241-244},
Address = {Portland, OR},
Series = {PER Conference},
Month = {July 17-18},
Year = {2013}
}
%A Jonathan Mahadeo %A Adrienne Traxler %A Eric Brewe %T Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats %S PER Conference %D July 17-18 2013 %P 241-244 %C Portland, OR %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %O July 17-18 %O application/pdf
%0 Conference Proceedings %A Mahadeo, Jonathan %A Traxler, Adrienne %A Brewe, Eric %D July 17-18 2013 %T Epistemic Games Analysis of Common Exam Questions Across Course Formats %B Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %C Portland, OR %P 241-244 %S PER Conference %8 July 17-18 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13175&DocID=3722
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.