Epistemic Complexity and the Journeyman-Expert Transition

TL;DR

This paper explores how upper-division physics students develop the ability to switch epistemological perspectives, integrating different knowledge types to improve complex problem solving, which is crucial for advancing from journeyman to expert levels.

Contribution

It presents two case studies showing journeyman students mastering epistemological switching, highlighting its importance in physics problem-solving development.

Findings

Students demonstrate epistemological resource switching in complex problems.

Mastering epistemological flexibility is key to progressing in physics expertise.

Epistemological skills are essential for effective physics problem solving.

Abstract

Physics students can encounter difficulties in physics problem solving as a result of failing to use knowledge that they have but do not perceive as relevant or appropriate. In previous work the authors have demonstrated that some of these difficulties may be epistemological. Students may limit the kinds of knowledge that they use. For example, they may use formal manipulations and ignore physical sense making or vice versa. Both beginning (novice) and intermediate (journeymen) students demonstrate these difficulties. Learning both to switch one's epistemological lens on a problem and to integrate different kinds of knowledge is a critical component of learning to solve problems in physics effectively. In this paper, we present two case studies in which journeyman students (upper-division physics majors) demonstrate switching between epistemological resources in approaching a complex problem. We conjecture that mastering these epistemological skills is an essential component of learning complex problem solving in physics.