See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/269279946

Problem Based Learning in Basic Physics -I

Article · January 2011

CITATIONS READS
7 6,907

2 authors:

Atul Mody H. C. Pradhan

22 PUBLICATIONS 37 CITATIONS
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
47 PUBLICATIONS 456 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Atul Mody on 09 December 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Problem Based Learning in Basic Physics - I

A. K . Mody
V. E.S. College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Sindhi Society
Chembur, Mumbai – 400 071

H. C. Pradhan
HBCSE, TIFR, V. N. Purav Marg, Mankhurd
Mumbai – 400 088

In this article- first in the series of articles we present a problem based learning course that we have used
successfully to build capacity of physics students. We present the learning objectives in different area of
basic physics and what each problem tries to achieve with its solution.

There is a criticism that at every stage of learning, success in examinations in present

education scenario relied heavily on reproduction of material that the students had
learned. No importance is given to development of necessary skills that can make
students think like professionals. If carefully chosen as a part of learning process,
problems can encourage the cultivation of a group of skills, which can be important
constituent of the expertise of a professional. Problem based learning is found to be a
convenient method to teach subject/s (Baden 2000) and many experiments are being tried
all over the world with positive outcome. Problem solving brings to bear essentially
reasoning about the subject. Problem solving is scaffolding/building up higher objectives
of learning. As per Bloom (1980), these objectives are, comprehension, application,
analysis and synthesis. Doing science itself in a way is problem solving.

At a level of basic physics all problems chosen have to be well defined and as Baden has
described, in the subject of science, formal teaching has to precede problem based
learning. Apart from being used for testing, problems can become good instruments to
help students construct their knowledge. This will also be in tune with NCF –2005 guide
lines of „promoting problem-skills, problem solving abilities and applications of physics
concepts/content, useful in real life situations, for making physics learning more relevant,
meaningful and interesting.

We have tried selecting our special problems for the course designed and following
Reddish(1994) termed them as touchstone problems. Although we have used them in
different sense than Redish.

By touchstone problem we mean a problem which satisfies more than one of the
following criteria.:

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 1

 (i) A problem which incorporates basic principle/s
(ii) A problem which is attractive enough or is rich in context
(iii)The problem should be sufficiently difficult but not too difficult to put students
off.
(iv) should require steps that are not mechanical but involve some decision making
(v) The problem should have a reasonable goal
(vi) The problem should guide students to comprehend the topic and/or application.

We have conducted such a problem solving course covering topics from basic physics
with similar problems. Most of the problems required one or more of the above-
mentioned strategies to be used. The problems were of the level of standard textbook
„Fundamentals of Physics‟ by Halliday, Resnik and Walker (2004) and Young (2004).
Most problems were chosen from the textbooks mentioned, competitive exams like JEE
(Joint Entrance Exam for admission to Indian Institute of Technologies) and Physics
Olympiads or equivalent. Source of some problem is unknown as authors have lost
track of them over the period of time but found them to be indispensable. Some
problems were specially designed as dictated by need.

The strategy we used to make students solve the problems can be called as constructivist,
features of which are as follows.
(i) Instructors should play a role of facilitator and help learner to get his or her own
understanding of the concepts & let the learner play an active role in the learning
process.
(ii) The learning environment should be designed to support (by making books available)
and challenge (through problems: touchstones & auxiliary (additional/smaller) and
counter questions as well as guided intervention) the learner‟s thinking. This way
learning becomes an active process where learner learns to discover principles,
concepts and facts themselves.
(iii)Requires instructor has culture, values and background to become an essential part of
the interplay between learners and tasks in the shaping of meaning.
(iv) Students learn by building upon knowledge they already possess themselves and
guided interventions correct errors, which creeps in their understanding.
(v) There should be enculturation. Students should be introduced to culture of the subject.
In our case students were introduced to culture of doing physics by solving problems.
(vi) Most importantly, there should be effective scaffolding. That is, students are not
given answers to any questions, but have to be guided (using interventions like
auxiliary problems, counter questions, cognitive conflicts) to converge to the answer
themselves.

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 2

Based on how students work through, it can also be used for formative assessment
(Mody 2011). This way, students also get immediate feedback of their thinking and
construction of knowledge as teacher uses his/her constructivist scaffolding. This is
very much on par with the vision of National Focus group on Examination Reforms
(NCERT 2006a), which has noted, „In the long term (about a decade) we envision a
vastly different system built upon entirely new foundations. This system would actually
make the teacher the primary evaluator of her students. This system would not be one-
shot but continuous, would extend beyond the cognitive domain and beyond pen and
paper; and, hopefully, be seen by all not as a burden but as a tool for further learning.
In this system the primary role of boards would change radically – from direct testing
at present to rigorous validation of school-based, teacher-based assessment. If any
direct testing by boards were still to be needed it would be of a very different type –
optional, open-book and on-demand’. In this scheme emphasis is on students
construction of knowledge and teacher can very much use it to assess students.

The problems on motion that we dealt with are given as follows with the learning
objectives and what each problem is expected to achieve along with solution. This
problems can be used by teachers to teach finer aspects of concepts. Teacher may use
any of the method they prefer: (i) It could be done on board in the class (ii) may be
used as tutorials (iii) may be given as home assignment (iv) may be used as a tool to
help students construct their own knowledge. We have used these problems as class
room work (as in (iv)) where teacher uses constructivist method as discussed above and
described by Pradhan (2009a). As a result of such a course we found students capacity
increased and were ready to face challenges, which earlier they never thought of.

As per Downey(1967) , ‘The core of good thinking is the ability to solve problems. The
essence of problem solving is the ability to learn in puzzling situations. Thus, in the
school of these particular dreams, learning how to learn pervades what is taught, how it
is taught, and the kind of place in which it is taught. The students gather around learning
problems and study how they think and make conscious efforts to learn to think more
effectively. (as quoted in Joyce and Weil 2005). Thus we can achieve aim of education as
per NCF-2005, which is to learn how to learn and process of construction of knowledge
through such problem based method.

The methodology is discussed in detail with auxiliary problems by Pradhan (2009a).

Results of our course were encouraging (Pradhan 2009b). Teachers have here
responsibility to chose appropriate auxiliary problems, counter questions, etc… as per
their strategy. We are presenting our course based on problems as a series of articles
starting with Mechanics-motion, with solution.

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 3

Mechanics
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand motion without worrying about origin of motion, especially force.

2. Motion under constant acceleration, in one and two dimensions. Motion is always
relative to an observer and hence how does state of an observer changes description
as we switch from one observer to another. In two dimensions there is a special
class, which is circular motion.

3. Understanding motion: linear and rotational (or equilibrium) in the light of

Newton‟s Laws of motion.

4. Understanding some of the interactions in the light of conservation principles (like

momentum, energy etc…). For example, the latest experiment in LHC (large
hadron collider) also has these principles involved of course in much detail beyond
the scope of this course. We have tried incorporating at a basic physics level.

5. To become familiar with mathematical structure of dealing with what is covered in

above-mentioned points.

1. Kinematics in 1-D
An elevator ascends with an upward acceleration of 1.2 m/s 2 . At the instant its upward
speed is 2.4 m/s, a loose bolt drops from the ceiling of the elevator 2.75m from the
floor. Calculate
(a) The time of flight of the bolt from the ceiling to the floor of the elevator.
(b) The displacement and the distance covered by the bolt during the free fall relative
to the elevator shaft. (Irodov 1988)

Tasks involved in this problem are:

1. To identify the reference frame.
In this case students can work with either of two different frames: (1) elevator
and (2) ground based (what problem specifies as elevator shaft).
2. To specify value of velocity, acceleration and displacement using proper sign
convention in each frame.
3. To recognize that time is same (Galilean invariant) in both the reference frames.
4. To be able to understand the difference between distance travelled and
displacement.

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 4

This problem gives a thorough picture of use of Kinematical equations that are to be
used for motion with constant accelerations.
The following problem can be used as an auxiliary problem to illustrate use of
kinematical equations, sign convention and unit conversion.

A car moving on a straight highway with speed of 126 kmh-1 is bought to a stop within a
distance of 200 m. What is the retardation of the car (assumed uniform), and how long
does it take for the car to stop? [NCERT 2006b]

2. Projectile Motion

A ball starts falling with zero initial velocity on a smooth inclined plane forming an
angle  with the horizontal. Having fallen the distance h, the ball rebounds elastically
off the inclined plane. At what distance from the impact point will the ball rebound
second time? (Irodov 1988)

Tasks involved in this problem are:

1. To use energy conservation principle to find speed at the impact.
2. To use momentum conservation principle and geometry to find direction of
motion after impact.
3. To understand meaning of elastic collision.
4. To either break motion into two 1-D motion or treat it as a simple projectile
motion problem.
5. To make a decision about point of impact so that it can be incorporated into
equations of projectile.

Smaller problems needed to do this problem need students to understand either how
equations of projectile are used or how motion can be broken into two different 1-D
motions.

The following auxiliary problem can be used to make students familiar with the use of
equations that can be obtain for motion of a projectile.

A soccer player kicks a ball at an angle of 37 o from the horizontal with an initial speed
of 20 m/sec. Assuming that the ball moves in a vertical plane,
a) Find time (time of ascent) at which the ball reaches the highest point in its
trajectory.
b) How high does the ball go (maximum height reached)?
c) At what instant the ball hits the ground (time of flight)?
d) What is the horizontal range of the ball ?
e) What is the velocity of the ball as it strikes the ground? [Take g = 10 m/s 2]

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 5

3. Relative Velocity
A motor boat, with its engine on in a running river and blown over by a horizontal wind
is observed to travel at 20 km/hr in a direction 53o East to North. The velocity of the boat
with its engine on in still water and blown over by the horizontal wind is 4 km/hr
Eastward and the velocity of the boat with its engine on over the running river, in the
absence of wind is 8 km/hr due South. Find
a. The velocity of the boat in magnitude and direction, over still water in the absence
of wind
b. The velocity of the wind in magnitude and direction. [Source: Unknown]

The following problem can be used as an auxiliary problem to illustrate use of Cartesian
vectors to represent velocity in two dimensions and find relative velocity.
A girl riding a bicycle with a speed of 5 m/s towards north direction, observes rain falling
vertically down. If she increases her speed to 10 m/s, rain appears to meet her at 45o to
the vertical. What is the speed of the rain? In what direction does rain fall as observed by
a ground based observer? [NCERT 2009]

Tasks involved in this problem are:

1. To find relative velocity and
2. Rectangular resolution of vectors.

This problem was chosen as it involves basic idea of relative velocity and technique
of using Cartesian representation of vectors.

Solutions to Touchstone Problems:

1. Kinematics in 1-D:
Inside the elevator :
Initial speed u = 0,
Distance through which bolt falls h =2.75 m
Acceleration of the bolt towards the floor = acceleration of the elevator
+ acceleration due to gravity = a + g
= 11.0 m/s2
h = ut + ½ (a + g) t2 gives time of flight to the elevator floor = 1
2 = 0.707 sec
Outside the elevator :
u = 2.4 m/s and a = g . Time of flight being Galilean invariant remains same.
hence bolt’s displacement in time t is s = ut + ½ gt 2 = - 0.753 m (negative sign indicates
downward displacement).

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 6

 As seen from out side, bolt moves up and comes down (due to initial upward speed) crossing
the starting point till it hits the floor. This upward motion upto the point when its speed
becomes zero. Thus v2 = u2 + 2as gives H = 0.294 m.
Thus total distance travelled = 2H + s = 1.34 m

2. Projectile Motion:
Conservation of energy gives speed of impact u = 2 gh .
Since plane is inclined at an angle  to the horizontal and collision is perfectly elastic, the ball
will be like a projectile launched at speed u and at an angle 90 - 2 to the horizontal. Taking
g
point of impact to be origin, trajectory of the ball is given by y  tan x  x2 ,
2u cos 
2 2

where x is horizontal distance and y is vertical distance. It hits the plane whose equation in the
plane of the trajectory can be taken as y = - x tan The point of intersection (second impact if
is at a distance L from first impact) on the plane (Lcos  , - Lsin) substituted in equation of
trajectory yields L = 8h sin .

3. Relative Velocity:
Taking west to east as x-direction, south to north as y-direction and taking vb as boat speed
w.r.t. still water, vr river speed and vw as wind speed, we have
vb + vr + vw = 20 cos 37 i + 20 sin 37 j
vb + vw = 4 I
vb + vr = - 8 j
gives vb = -12 i –20 j : 23.33 km/hr at 59o2’ south of west
and vw = 16 i + 20 j : 25.61 km/hr at 51o21’ north of east.

References:

1. Baden Maggi Savin: „Problem-based Learning in Higher Education: Untold Stories‟, The
Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press (2000)

2. Benjamin S. Bloom, Ed., Max D. Engelhart, Edward J. Furst, Walker H. Hill, David R.
Krathwohl, „Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Vol. I, Longman Inc. (1980)

3. Halliday, Resnick and Walker, Fundamentals of Physics by 6 th Ed., John Wiley & Sons
(2005)

4. Irodov I. E., „Problems in General Physics‟, MIR Publication (1988)

5. Bruce Joyce and Marsha Weil in Models of Teaching, PHI (2005)

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 7

 6. Atul Mody., „On New System of Grading for Students’ Learning of Physics’, Epistme-4,
HBCSE, Mumbai (2011)

7. National Curriculum Framework – 2005, NCERT, New Delhi (2005).

8. National Focus group on Examination Reforms : A Position Paper; NCERT, New

Delhi (2006a)

9. Physics Textbook for class XI part-I, NCERT New Delhi (2006b)

10. Physics Exemplar problems class XI, NCERT New Delhi (2009)

11. Pradhan H.C. & Mody A. K., „Constructivism applied to physics teaching for
capacity building of undergraduate students’, University News, 47 (21) 4-10, (2009a)

12. Pradhan H.C. & Mody A. K., „Supplementary Programme for Capacity Building of
Physics Undergraduate Students’, Physics Education, 26 (2) 93-98, (2009b)

13. Edward F. Redish, “Implications of cognitive studies for teaching Physics,” Am. J. Phys.
62 (9), 796 - 803 (1994)

14. Alan H. Schoenfeld : Mathematical Problem Solving, Academic Press INC (1985)

15. Young and Freedman , “Sears and Zeemansky‟s University Physics,” 11 th Ed., Pearson
Education (2004)

School Science 49 (3) Sept 2011 Page 8

View publication stats