On Friday, April 30 2010, I presented an invited workshop entitled Problem Solving in the Physics Classroom at the annual meeting of the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers. The abstract to the session follows:

As physics teachers, we can readily agree that our students should be able to solve challenging and meaningful physics problems. At the same time, many students report that framing a problem is the most difficult task that they encounter in both high school and undergraduate physics courses. In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore a number of research-based approaches to engaging students with a variety of problem-solving techniques. Some of the topics to be explored include the nature of a problem, problem classification, planning for problem solving, collaborative learning, and the importance of self-monitoring during problem solving. The workshop will provide an experience for participants to do a variety of problems, using the techniques that will be presented, with a view to thinking about how these techniques might be implemented in a physics classroom.

Click here to download the PowerPoint presentation. Click here to download a PDF version of the handout.

Thank you to all who attended.