Advising a Bus Company on Number of Needed Buses: How High-School Physics Students' Deal With a "Complex Problem"?

Autor/inn/en	Balukovic, Jasmina; Slisko, Josip; Hadzibegovic, Zalkida
Titel	Advising a Bus Company on Number of Needed Buses: How High-School Physics Students' Deal With a "Complex Problem"?
Quelle	In: European Journal of Physics Education, 2 (2011) 3, S. 38-54 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1309-7202
Schlagwörter	Forschungsbericht; Science Instruction; Secondary School Science; High School Students; Transportation; Vignettes; Problem Solving; Thinking Skills; Science Process Skills; Foreign Countries; Student Surveys; Mathematics; Physics; Competence; Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo); Program for International Student Assessment + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Verkehrswesen; Problemlösen; Denkfähigkeit; Ausland; Schülerbefragung; Mathematik; Physik; Kompetenz
Abstract	Since 2003, international project PISA evaluates 15-year old students in solving problems that include "decision taking", "analysis and design of systems" and "trouble-shooting". This article presents the results of a pilot research conducted with 215 students from first to fourth grade of a high school in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The students, in an imaginary, real-life like scenario, had to advice a bus company about number of buses needed for operating a 24-hour service between two cities. Research instrument was structured in a way, which permits exploring how students deal with a "complex problem" (in PISA terminology it would be problem type "analysis and design of systems") in real-life setting. Negative research results show that students mainly (1) use either verbal or visual reasoning mode; (2) have poor "sense-making" approach in analyzing a simple dynamical system and (3) have underdeveloped an important competency for working in knowledge-based economy (decision-taking based on evidence and arguments). A positive result is that majority of students found interesting the problem in question. Some brief recommendations about the presence and role of "complex problem" in physics teaching are offered in conclusions. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Erciyes University. Melikgazi, Kayseri, 38039 Turkey. Tel: +90-352-207-6666; Web site: http://ejpe.erciyes.edu.tr/index.php/EJPE
Begutachtung	Peer reviewed
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01