Varied reasoning schema in students' written solutions

TL;DR

This study analyzes undergraduate students' written solutions in mechanics to identify diverse reasoning patterns and mathematical tool usage using a modified ACER framework and network analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of network analysis and Resources Framework to characterize students' mathematical reasoning in physics problem solving.

Findings

Identified varied patterns of mathematical tool use in student solutions

Developed a 'fingerprint' method to characterize reasoning patterns

Preliminary results show diverse reasoning schemas among students

Abstract

The Mathematization project investigates students' use of mathematical tools across the undergraduate physics curriculum. As a part of this project, we look at intermediate mechanics students' written homework solutions to understand how they use these tools in approaching traditional mechanics problems. We use a modified version of the ACER (Activation-Construction-Execution-Reflection) framework to analyze students' solutions and to identify patterns of mathematical skills used on traditional problems. We apply techniques borrowed from network analysis and the Resources Framework to build a "fingerprint" of students' mathematical tool use. In this paper, we present preliminary findings on patterns that we identified in students' problem solving.