Description:
This paper, presented at the 2001 Physics Education Research Conference, describes portions of an ongoing investigation into the relationship between conceptual knowledge and problem-solving ability in physics. To what degree do students apply conceptual knowledge to the solution of traditional examination and end-of-chapter physics problems? Are there instructional strategies that can facilitate this application? Finally, does an increased emphasis on developing conceptual understanding of the material underlying these problems have any impact on subsequent coursework? The researcher found that the addition of an explicit link between concepts and traditional problems can serve both to reinforce concepts and to improve student quantitative problem-solving performance.
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