Types of Difficult Physics Problems

[dvandom]

In my years of teaching physics, I've noticed that the truly difficult, student-stumping problems almost all fall into one of the following five categories:

1. Conceptually hard - "I don't know what the physics is!"
   
2. Mathematically hard - "I don't know how to solve that equation!"
   
3. Nitpicky - "I can't find where I lost that factor of x!"
   
4. Misread - "Wait, I wasn't supposed to find the impossible variable, I was supposed to find the easy one?"
   
5. Paranoid - "I'm not leaving until I find the trick to the question...wait, it's not a trick question?"
   

Obviously, #1 and #2 can only be overcome by learning more. But a lot of "hard" problems fall into the other three categories, and can be solved simply by being careful when reading the problem and when doing it...and by not looking for problems where there are none. :)

Comments

[susp.livejournal.com]

I'd say those five categories apply to every single subject at every single level. It's why whenever students beg me for help with their work, I always gently ask, "Did you read the instructions/question carefully and correctly?"

The students always say, "Yes," naturally, but more often than not, they didn't.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Well, 3-5 do. I doubt a reading comprehension problem trips students up with hard math. :)

I suppose I could generalize it and do the first two this way:

1. Main subject conceptual difficulty
   
2. Technical/Mechanical tools are hard to use