Analyzing Problem Solving Using Math in Physics: Epistemic Framing Via Warrants

By Thomas J. Bing, Edward F. Redish. 2009

200 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Developing expertise in physics entails learning to use mathematics effectively and efficiently as applied to the context of physical situations. Doing so involves coordinating a variety of concepts and skills including mathematical processing, computation, blending ancillary information with the math, and reading out physical implications from the math and vice versa. From videotaped observations of intermediate level students solving problems in groups, we note that students often “get stuck” using a limited group of skills or reasoning and fail to notice that a different set of tools (which they possess and know how to use effectively) could quickly and easily solve their problem. We refer to a student’s perception/judgment of the kind of knowledge that is appropriate to bring to bear in a particular situation as epistemic framing. Although epistemic framing is often unstated (and even unconscious), in group problem solving situations students sometimes get into disagreements about how to progress. During these disagreements, they bring forth explicit reasons or warrants in support of their point of view. For the context of mathematics use in physics problem solving, we present a system for classifying physics students’ warrants. This warrant analysis offers tangible evidence of their epistemic framing.

Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d12f12287211700c61aba4871fe86d203026c331

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In Artificial Intelligence

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Citations in the corpus

Synthesis of Discipline-Based Education Research in Physics. (2014, background): “This suggests that the availability of resources depends on the context in which a skill was learned and the solver’s perception of appropriate knowledge to activate in a particular situation, referred to as epistemological framing [136,167].”
Language of Physics, Language of Math: Disciplinary Culture and Dynamic Epistemology (2014, background): “Some basic epistemological resources that are relevant for our consideration of mathematics use in science include (Bing & Redish, 2009, 2012): • Embodied physical intuition: Knowledge constructed from experience and perception (e.g., p-prims) is reliable.”
Beyond Epistemological Deficits: Dynamic explanations of engineering students’ difficulties with mathematical sense-making (2011, background): “’s ( 1992 ) and Schoenfeld’s ( 1989 ), case studies delve more deeply into individual students’ reasoning, elucidating causal mechanisms by which epistemology affects mathematical sense‐making during problem‐solving (Bing & Redish, 2009 ; Hammer, 1994 ; Lising & Elby, 2005 ).”