Research papers
1981 · Cognitive Science · 5,253 citations
The representation of physics problems in relation to the organization of physics knowledge is investigated in experts and novices. Four experiments examine (a) the existence of problem categories as a basis for representation; (b) differences in the categories used by experts and novices; (c) differences in the knowledge associated with the categories; and (d) features in the problems that contribute to problem categorization and representation. Results from sorting tasks and protocols reveal that experts and novices begin their problem representations with specifiably different problem categories, and completion of the representations depends on the knowledge associated with the categories. For, the experts initially abstract physics principles to approach and solve a problem representation, whereas novices base their representation and approaches on the problem's literal features.
1993 · 1,276 citations
The aim of this work is twofold: to understand the intuitive sense of mechanism that accounts for commonsense predictions, expectations, explanations, and judg-ments of plausibility concerning mechanically causal situations and to understand how those intuitive ideas contribute to and develop into school physics. To facili-tate this, I provide a framework for describing and correlating characteristics of weakly organized knowledge systems. The framework is aimed at answering, at a coarse level of detail, a set of questions central to a full theory of knowledge: What are the elements of knowledge; how do they arise; what level and kind of systematicity exists; how does the system as a whole evolve; and what can be said about the underlying cognitive mechanisms that are responsible for the normal oper-ation of the system and its evolution? The empirical base is a set of clinical interviews of undergraduate physics stu-dents trying to solve a set of specially designed problems. Observations from this core and from the existing literature are extended with informal data and synthe-sized using the general framework.
2014 · InSight A Journal of Scholarly Teaching · 34 citations
The study examined the effects of video-based multimedia instruction on secondary school students’ achievement and retention in biology. In Nigeria, 120 students (60 boys and 60 girls) were randomly selected from four secondary schools assigned either into one of three experimental groups: Animation + Narration; Animation + On-screen Text; Animation + Narration + On-screen Text or a control group. The pretest, posttest experimental, and control group design was adopted. A 50-item multiple-choice objective test termed Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used for collecting data. The validated BAT was tested for reliability using Kuder Richardson (KR20), which yielded 0.89. T-test, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and Scheffe’s post-hoc analysis were used in determining the significant differences among the four groups. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference among the experimental groups. Generally, students under multimedia instruction performed better than their colleagues in the conventional teaching method. However, students in conventional teaching method had better retention than other groups.
2012 · International Journal of Physics & Chemistry Education · 9 citations
This study was aimed at finding out the impact audio-visual-aided instruction on students’ achievement in physics at Cape Coast township of Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. The study was a non-randomized pre-test/post-test group design. A total of 65 students in Senior High School (SHS) formed the sample for the study. The students were fourth year science students from two purposefully selected co-educational SHS. The two selected schools were randomly designated experimental and control groups respectively. A validated physics achievement test instrument of a reliability coefficient of 0.76 was administered. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test statistics were used to test the two hypotheses formulated to guide the study at a significance level 0.05. The results showed that SHS students taught with audio-visual aided instruction performed better than those taught with traditional method. The mean achievement scores of both male and female students improved significantly by the use of the audio-visual aided instruction. It was therefore recommended that SHS physics teachers should explore the use of audio-visual-aided instruction to teach the subject, physics.