Abstract:

Physics problem-solving is considered a reliable way to demonstrate understanding of physics for purposes of evaluation. Performance of pupils and students taking part in physics competitions is usually compared according to their scores gained for their written solutions of physics problems. Physics Olympiad participants often need to interpret or explain the meaning of their own algebraic solutions. Knowledge and skills in physics as well as in mathematics, which are needed for correct solution of physics problems, are independent of each other. Assessment methods in Physics Olympiad play an important role in the motivation of its participants. There was found correlation between the number of successful Physics Olympiad participants in one year and the number of them participating in the next year. Assessment method can be used as a powerful tool for motivation and needs to focus more on skills in physics than mathematics. Success of participants can be influenced more by their mathematical skills than their physics skills. In this paper, an example Physics Olympiad problem is used to demonstrate analysis method in which solution of Physics Olympiad problem proposed by its author is divided into number of elementary physics and mathematical steps. Some steps are connected to each other and create a network. Similar analysis of solutions of Physics Olympiad participants is done as well. Steps in physics and in mathematics can be considered as independent. Recalibration method can be therefore used for obtaining more suitable assessment in which skills and knowledge in physics are scored with higher scores compared to mathematics.

Keywords:

Skills in physics and mathematics, problem-solving, assessment, evaluation, motivation, scores, independency.