A Case Survey of Students’ Diagram-drawing Performance in Solving Physics Problems

Abstract

Understanding physics learners’ diagram-drawing performances in solving physics problems is important in education practice, therefore, the accumulation of basic data associated with diagram-drawing performances is desirable. In this study, a physics problem in which the objective was to find the static frictional force was presented to physics learners at the secondary education level who had previously learned about frictional force, and the students’ diagram-drawing performances in solving the problem was subsequently surveyed. The results of the survey revealed that there was no significant difference in the diagram-drawing performances between the male and female students. Additionally, among both the male and female students, it was suggested that the degree of success at problem solving correlates to the degree of their diagram-drawing performances. On the other hand, the results also suggested that for the female students, the diagram-drawing performances do not necessarily contribute sufficiently to the problems’ solutions. Hereafter, based on the results of this case survey, it is expected to extend the survey groups and variations of the problems and to further discuss the significance and limitations of diagram-drawing performances in solving physics problems.