The effects of content and repetition for mastery on the problem-solving abilities of physical science students

摘要

The design of this study was developed so that two main objectives could be accomplished. Determining the relationship between achievement in solving physical science problems and solving problems of varying content was one goal. Also, ascertaining how achievement in solving physical science problems and the repetitions required to reach mastery of a set of problems was another major interest of the research. Subjects consisted of students enrolled in a physical science course for non-science majors at the University of Southern Mississippi.;Velocity-type problems (familiar, unfamiliar, and science) were presented to subjects through a pretest and computer programs that were developed for the study. The computer programs enabled the researcher to count the number of repetitions needed to master sets of velocity-type and acceleration problems. The data collected were then correlated with the subjects' achievement in solving velocity and achievement in solving acceleration problems.;The analyses of the data showed that subjects who score high in ability to solve velocity-type familiar, unfamiliar, and science problems would also have high achievement in solving velocity problems. However, a subject's ability to solve the simpler proportions of the velocity-type problems did not significantly predict the subject's ability to solve more complex acceleration problems.;Furthermore, the study showed an inverse relationship between repetitions for mastery and achievement in solving velocity and achievement in solving acceleration word problems. That is, the fewer the repetitions needed to master either velocity-type or acceleration problems, the higher the achievement in solving velocity and achievement in solving acceleration problems.