FIG. 1.
Frequency distribution of how often a problem-solving method was mentioned in a student reflection. The reflections written at the start of the course (“pre”) are shown in solid black and the reflections written at the end of the course (“post”) are shown as a striped histogram. The “limiting” strategies are shown on the left and the “expansive” strategies are shown on the right.
Some observations from this data are:
(i) The four limiting strategies (shown on the left) dominate at the start of the semester, with over 50% of students mentioning Rolodex equation matching, i.e., they solve problems by searching for equations that have the same variables as the knowns and unknowns.
(ii) The frequency of these limiting strategies does not greatly decrease by the end of the semester.
(iii) There is an increase in students describing more expansive strategies within their reflections. In particular there is a large