Using Categorization of Problems as an Instructional Tool to Help Introductory Students Learn Physics

TL;DR

This study explores how categorization tasks can serve as an effective instructional tool to help introductory physics students recognize underlying principles across diverse problems, thereby enhancing their problem-solving skills.

Contribution

It demonstrates that categorization exercises, especially in small peer groups, improve students' ability to identify core physics principles beyond contextual differences.

Findings

Categorization tasks aid in recognizing underlying physics principles.

Small group peer work enhances learning outcomes.

The approach aligns with expert problem-solving strategies.

Abstract

The ability to categorize problems based upon underlying principles, rather than contexts, is considered a hallmark of expertise in physics problem solving. With inspiration from a classic study by Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser, we compared the categorization of 25 introductory mechanics problems based upon similarity of solution by students in large calculus-based introductory courses with physics faculty and Ph.D. students. Here, we summarize the study and suggest that a categorization task, especially when conducted with students working with peers in small groups, can be an effective pedagogical tool to help students in introductory physics courses learn to discern the underlying similarity between problems with diverse contexts but the same underlying physics principles.