Physics 641: Physics Pedagogy
An On-line Course for Teachers of Physics

Ranking Task Exercises in Physics

The following description has been copied and/or assimilated (partially rewritten) from the book Ranking Task Exercises in Physics by Thomas O'Kuma, David Maloney, and Curtis Hieggelke. The preface was written by Alan Van Heuvelen. The book is published by Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-022355-7.

Thirty years of careful study by physicists and others interested in education reveals that students enter our introductory courses with conceptual beliefs that differ considerably from the accepted concepts of physics. Unfortunately, a good fraction of these same students leave our courses with their alternative beliefs unchanged. Because of these studies, there is now more interest in helping students build a better conceptual foundation for their studies in physics.

Building this foundation is aided by uncovering students' alternative beliefs, a task well-suited for Ranking Tasks. A ranking task provides a question with several contextually similar situations. The situations differ in the value of one or more physical quantities (number of parallel or series bulbs, speed and mass of a swinging object, and so forth). The student ranks the situations according to some other physical quantity (electric current, rope tension and so forth). The student also provides reasons for their ranking. The ranking order and the explanation provide a window into the student's mind and helps a teacher or professor identify different models for what students are thinking.

Ranking tasks are also very useful for helping students modify their conceptual beliefs. Students are given a ranking task. The student completes the task working alone. The student then compares their thinking with that of another student and tries to reconcile any differences in thinking. The ranking task serves as the focus for a small group or classroom discussion. The tasks can also be given as homework problems and on quizzes and exams.

You may download here the prefacing material for the book that describes the method including the table of contents, foreword, preface, background, insights, uses, and samples. In addition you may download three sets of ranking test exercises from the section on Force Ranking Tasks.

• Carts Exercise
• Person in an Elevator Exercise
• Car and Boat Trailer Exercise

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