Traditionally, scholars in physics education research have focused on students solving well-structured learning activities at the university. However, due to their constrained nature, these problems hinder collaboration and idea generation. In order to encourage student collaboration and decision making demands among undergraduate students in an introductory physics course, we utilized a real-world problem where groups were asked to compose a well-structured physics problem for younger learners. In this study we explored how they collaborated in composing physics problems. Data collection consisted of audio recording of the group discussions while they were collaborating to develop their physics problems and their respective problem solutions. Through interviews, we accessed participants’ perceptions of the task and related challenges. Results suggest that composing problems is an opportunity for participants to propose ideas and make decisions regarding the goals of the problem, concepts and procedures, contextual details, and magnitudes and units to introduce in their activities. Further, participants valued the open-ended nature of the task and recognized its benefits in utilizing physics ideas into context, which in turn enabled collaboration in a way not experienced by them with traditional well-structured problems. These findings shed light on the nature of composing physics problems in undergraduate courses, where participants assume a different role by facing a real-world activity that encourages expertise through physics-related communication and writing.

中文翻译：

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研究大学生如何通过结构化任务来协作以解决物理问题

传统上，物理学教育研究的学者关注于解决大学中结构良好的学习活动的学生。但是，由于它们的约束性质，这些问题阻碍了协作和想法的产生。为了鼓励本科生在物理入门课程中进行学生合作和做出决策，我们利用了一个现实世界的问题，即要求小组为年轻的学习者组成结构合理的物理问题。在这项研究中，我们探讨了他们如何协作解决物理问题。数据收集包括在小组讨论共同开发其物理问题和各自的问题解决方案时进行的录音。通过访谈，我们了解了参与者对任务和相关挑战的看法。结果表明，编写问题是参与者提供机会提出想法并就问题的目标，概念和程序，上下文细节以及在其活动中引入的大小和单位进行决策的机会。此外，与会人员重视这项任务的开放性，并认识到在将物理思想运用到上下文中的好处，这反过来又使他们能够以他们在传统结构良好的问题上无法体验的方式进行协作。这些发现揭示了本科课程中构成物理问题的性质，参与者通过面对现实世界中的活动来扮演不同的角色，该活动通过与物理学相关的交流和写作来鼓励专业知识。