Question: In what ways do students use geometric understanding of a problem in their problem solving?
• What are examples of students using geometric understanding?
• What are examples of types of reasoning that are seen commonly among a large percentage of students?
• What are examples of types of reasoning that are exceptional and found only among certain students?
• To what advances in understanding or solving of the problem does the particular application of geometric understanding lead?
• What situations lead to symbolic→geometric understanding, which lead to geometric→symbolic, and which to harmonic reasoning?
Question: What are the concepts and processes with which students are wrestling when solving E&M problems, and how do they approach them?
• What aspects of E&M problems are not obvious to students, including understanding of:
* physical quatities
* geometric relationships
* mathematical processes
* notation and translation of symbols
• What approaches do students take to overcome challenges and to what extent is geometric reasoning used to solve the problem.
Link to an expansion of these ideas about student Learning
A look at what students are wrestling with and some video Examples