"Attentional demand, encoding, and affective payoff of context-rich physics problems"

Problems from introductory physics courses are often presented in minimal form.Such problems reinforce formulaic thinking, meaning that students focus on equation hunting instead of physics principles.Alternative problem types, such as context-rich and qualitative problems, have been considered as means of addressing this issue.However, their usage is far from being standardized, and evidence still lacks regarding the type of thinking they exert.This study explores the facets of solving context-rich and qualitative introductory physics problems among 25 students and 6 instructors.Analyses of fixation times and recognition performances revealed that while students spent more time fixating on physics quantities than instructors, their memory trace of the problems was fairly comparable.Likert scales revealed that students found both types of problems to be less confusing and more engaging than did instructors.