Physics and Astronomy Calendar

Problem solving is a complex process that is important for everyday life and crucial for learning physics. Although there is a great deal of effort to improve student problem solving throughout the educational system, there is no standard way to evaluate written problem solving that is independent of the problem features, physics topic, or problem-solving format used by a student. Typically such complex processes are assessed by using a rubric, which divides a skill into multiple aspects and defines criteria to attain a score in each. This talk describes the development of a general problem solving rubric for the purpose of assessing written solutions to physics problems and presents evidence for the validity, reliability, and utility of scores on the instrument.