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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the variables involved in Physics problem-solving and to find the differences of problem-solving behaviors between higher and lower achievement problem solvers for senior high students . Variables selected in this research consist of problem-solving achievement,mechanics concepts,mathematical skills,cognitive development,problem representation,problem solving strategy and organization. The subjects included 185 11th grade students.They were randomly drawn from a science majored group of a senior high school in Kaohsiung area.The assessed instruments totally contained four paper-pencil tests,three of them were developed in this research,the other adopted from Lawson''s Longeot test of literature.The data were collected and analyzed by means of the students'' written responses. The major findings of this study were: 1.Problem representation,mechanics concepts organization, mathematical skills,cognitive development and problem-solving strategy were significantly related to problem-solving achievement. 2.The higher-achievement problem solvers reached significantly higher scores than lower-achievment provlem solvers did in preblem-solving achievement,mechanics concepts,mathematical skills,problem representation and organization.But there was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to cognitive development and problem-solving strategy. 3.There was no significant difference ,beyond the 0.05 level, between boys and girls for all problem-solving variables except the ones organization and problem-solving strategy. 4.Problem representation was the best for predicting problem-solving achievement. 5.20.6﹪of subjects have not reached the formal operational level of intellectual development. 6.Formal thinkers outperformed transitional thinkers associated with mechanics concepts and mathematical skills.
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