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

Definitions

A look at what students are wrestling with and some video Examples