Problem-solving skills are of immense value to society and it has produced noticeable results in teaching and learning physics especially in students’ academic performance in high school physics. Physics is one of the essential disciplines that plays a vital role in advancement of science and technology through exposing and improving students’ proficiency in solving complex problems (Docktor & Mestre, 2014; Elvira, 2016). While there are lots of earlier research, especially in America, indicating that problem solving strategies taught has somewhat improved the solving of physics problems (Heller & Reif, 1984; Hsu, Brewe, Foster, & Harper, 2004; Leonard, Dufresne, & Mestre, 1996; Van Heuvelen, 2001), current studies globally however, show that both male and female students are still performing poorly in physics and in physics problem solving aspect (Bryant & Swinton, 2001; Gonzuk & Chagok, 2001) and particularly so in Africa (Josiah, 2013; Olaniyan & Omosewo, 2015). Research undertaken in different topics in high school physics showed that methods of teaching and problem-solving skills are major factors to be considered for better performance in the subject (Brewton, 2001; Çalışkan, Selçuk, & Erol, 2012; Gonzuk & Chagok, 2001; Orji, 2000). In studies of Akinbobola and Afolabi (2010), Okoronka and Wada (2017) and Omaga, Iji and Adeniran (2014), guided discovery, problem-based learning approach and analogy instruction strategy were used. It was observed that the experimental groups performed better than the control group, but their findings varied between the performance of male and female students. Okoronka and Wada observed no difference in male and female performance, while Omaga, Iji and Adeniran observed variation in the performance of male and female students in electricity. Engelhardt and Beichner (2004) researched students’ understanding of direct circuits and noted that girls and women did not perform as well on the test given as boys and men, either in high school or at universities. They conducted interviews that showed that, at universities, women had more misconceptions about dc circuits than men, but this difference was not observed between boys and girls in high school. In addition, male students were much more confident in their answers than female students, though reasons for this difference were not explored. Abstract. This research reports on the effectiveness of Polya Problem-Solving and Target-Task collaborative learning approaches in electricity amongst high school physics students. It also includes a gender focus. It was an experimental research with a pre-test post-test control group design. The experimental groups were exposed to Polya Problem-Solving approach and Target-Task collaborative learning approach while the control group were exposed to conventional teaching. A total of 180 students were selected and divided equally into three groups, 60 (male adolescent and female adolescent) each. The students were initially pre-tested, followed by teaching and learning in electricity using the treatments, and finally they were post-tested using the Performance Test in Current Electricity (PTCE). Data were analyzed quantitatively with descriptive statistics and ANCOVA, and the research hypotheses were tested at .05 alpha level of significance. The research confirmed that both the treatments, Polya Problem-Solving and Target-Task collaborative learning approaches enhanced the performance of the students based on gender and scoring abilities compared with the conventional teaching.

中文翻译：

---

POLYA 问题解决和目标任务协作学习方法在高中物理学生中的有效性

解决问题的能力对社会具有巨大的价值，它在物理教学和学习中产生了显着的效果，尤其是学生在高中物理的学习成绩。物理学是必不可少的学科之一，通过展示和提高学生解决复杂问题的能力，在科学技术的进步中发挥着至关重要的作用（Docktor & Mestre，2014 年；Elvira，2016 年）。虽然有很多早期的研究，特别是在美国，表明教授的问题解决策略在一定程度上改善了物理问题的解决（Heller & Reif，1984；Hsu、Brewe、Foster 和 Harper，2004；Leonard、Dufresne 和 Mestre , 1996; Van Heuvelen, 2001)，然而目前全球研究，表明男女学生在物理和物理问题解决方面仍然表现不佳（Bryant & Swinton, 2001; Gonzuk & Chagok, 2001），尤其是在非洲（Josiah, 2013; Olaniyan & Omosewo, 2015）。对高中物理不同主题进行的研究表明，教学方法和解决问题的能力是在该学科中取得更好成绩需要考虑的主要因素（Brewton，2001 年；Çalışkan、Selçuk 和 Erol，2012 年；Gonzuk 和 Chagok，2001 年） ; 奥尔吉，2000）。在 Akinbobola 和 Afolabi（2010）、Okoronka 和 Wada（2017）以及 Omaga、Iji 和 Adeniran（2014）的研究中，使用了引导发现、基于问题的学习方法和类比教学策略。观察到实验组的表现优于对照组，但他们的发现因男女学生的表现而异。Okoronka 和 Wada 观察到男女学生的表现没有差异，而 Omaga、Iji 和 Adeniran 观察到男女学生在电学方面的表现存在差异。Engelhardt 和 Beichner (2004) 研究了学生对直接电路的理解，并指出无论是在高中还是在大学，女孩和女性在考试中的表现不如男孩和男性。他们进行的采访表明，在大学里，女性对直流电路的误解比男性多，但在高中男生和女生之间没有观察到这种差异。此外，男学生比女学生对自己的答案更有信心，尽管没有探讨这种差异的原因。抽象的。本研究报告了 Polya 问题解决和目标-任务协作学习方法在高中物理学生中的电力方面的有效性。它还包括一个性别焦点。这是一项实验研究，采用前测后测控制组设计。实验组接受波利亚问题解决方法和目标任务协作学习方法，而对照组则接受常规教学。总共选择了 180 名学生，并平均分为三组，每组 60 名（男性青少年和女性青少年）。学生们首先接受了预测试，然后是使用治疗方法进行电力教学和学习，最后使用电流电力性能测试 (PTCE) 对他们进行了后测试。使用描述性统计和 ANCOVA 对数据进行定量分析，并在 0.05 alpha 显着性水平上检验研究假设。研究证实，与传统教学相比，Polya 问题解决和目标任务协作学习方法都提高了学生在性别和评分能力方面的表现。