Research in cognitive science is providing an increasingly detailed understanding of human cognition. Teachers can help students become conscious of their own reasoning processes and then learn to compare, contrast, interrelate, or coordinate various ways in which they think in order to refine their problem-solving methods. (Author/MLF)

This book is directed toward increasing students' ability to analyze problems and comprehend what they read and hear. It outlines and illustrates the methods that good problem solvers use in attacking complex ideas, and provides practice in applying these methods to a variety of questions involving comprehension and reasoning. Chapter I includes a…

Comparisons of expert and novice problem solving in physics have helped characterize some of the key features of expert behavior. There is considerable debate, however, as to whether these characteristics are specific to the field of expertise (physics) or exportable to other fields. While the question seems difficult to answer in general, at…

A thinking aloud pair problem solving (TAPPS) procedure--two students work cooperatively on a collection of short problems--is outlined, and reading comprehension exercises and sample student thought process protocols are presented. (Author/MLW)

Preliminary results from a study of students' conceptions in introductory rotational physics are discussed. Analyses of data from problem solving interviews and written diagnostic tests provided evidence that many students had a poor qualitative understanding of torque. Even among students who answered questions correctly a percentage did so for…