The practice of not allowing students in an introductory physics course to have free access to learn from the solutions to the problems in their text raises some interesting pedagogical issues. In order to identify specific questions, testable against actual data from classroom studies, the authors decided to survey and examine the attitudes and beliefs of both physics instructors and students on this subject. Recently, a sample of 249 physics instructors was surveyed and analyzed (Ginsberg et al., 1997; this paper also contains a brief background and references). The results of a parallel survey of the opinions of 227 current physics students are presented in this paper. (Subsequently, a follow-up survey of a portion of the original sample of students was conducted under more restricted circumstances, and will be reported separately.) We believe that student access to problem solutions may be related to various aspects in the college education of adult learners, such as learner control (Hiemstra and Sisco, 1990), self-direction (Candy, 1991), participation (Galbraith, 1990), and self-confidence (Usher, 1986). We hope that our survey results will aid in the future exploration of these relationships. 

    For both practical and methodological reasons, the survey was conducted on students in a large-enrollment, calculus-based, introductory physics course, by means of a short questionnaire administered during a regular class meeting. This procedure appeared to offer the best chance of collecting independent, spontaneous and candid responses from a statistically significant number of individuals, with a minimum expenditure of time and resources. Cooperative instructors of a suitable course at a neighboring university agreed to donate class time for two short questionnaires, an initial one near the beginning, and a follow-up one at the end, of the first semester of teaching in the spring of 1996. The survey instruments were adapted to the specific administrative details of this course.

    The course had a total enrollment of about 375 students, split unevenly into four parallel lecture sections, each with a different instructor, spaced at different hours throughout the same days of the week. These students represent a typical mix of science and engineering majors, fulfilling a physics requirement. (Students enrolled in a separate course for declared physics majors were not surveyed.) All students were scheduled into the same set of discussion sections, and all received the same assignments of homework problems, treated according to the standard practice recognized in the previous survey of instructors (Ginsberg et al., 1997). This involved placing copies of the solutions to only those problems in each assignment on library reserve, after the homework was due. This procedure had been in operation in the course for about one month, a period which included three homework assignments and the first exam, at the time the initial questionnaire was distributed. A total of 227 questionnaires were collected in the initial survey; most of the remaining students enrolled in the course were absent. According to the course instructors, there was relatively high attendance on this day of class meetings, which they selected, since the papers from the first exam were also returned, and it occurred just before the drop deadline for the course. (The circumstances for the follow-up survey differed, and will be described separately.)

    The survey instrument, designed to be completed within the 15 minutes of donated class time, consisted of four multiple-choice questions, five Likert-scale questions, and space for optional comments. Respondents were assured of anonymity and confidentiality, but were requested to supply the last four digits of their student numbers, so that responses on the initial and follow-up questionnaires could be correlated. Questions asked students how frequently and in what manner they actually used the problem solutions (Questions #1, 2, & 4), and what they felt about the scope and timing of those problem solutions available in the course (Questions #3, 5, 6, & 7). Student opinion about the value of first struggling with a problem without access to its solution, a rationale mentioned frequently in comments to the instructor survey (Ginsberg et al., 1997) was specifically addressed (Question #8), as was student opinion about the result of free access to all solutions and the responsibility for deciding this (Question #9). Careful attention was given to the wording of the questionnaire (Fowler, 1995), and although no field pretest was conducted, questions of the same general form had been previously used in several survey instruments designed for students in similar courses taught by one of the authors. The complete text of the initial questionnaire is given in the Appendix. 

    Data for the number of responses on each choice of answer to the multiple-choice questions is also given in Appendix A (in curly brackets). For the Likert-scale questions, the number of responses for each point on the scale and the averages of the Likert-scale variable are given in Table 1; the percent distributions are plotted in Figure 1.
 
 

Figure 1.
Percent response distributions for Likert-scale Questions #5 to #9.
 

    The data on student attitudes toward the standard practice for providing access to homework problem solutions indicates dissatisfaction. The distribution of responses to the direct question about the standard practice for availability of solutions (Question #5) is uni-modal, with a neutral central maximum, and a weakly unfavorable average, 2.8 compared to the neutral value of 3.0 on the Likert-scale. (There was more total disagreement, 32%, than agreement 23%; see Figure 1 or Table I.) Although this suggests passive acceptance, responses to other questions show strong contrary student opinion. Two thirds of the students responding to Question #6 felt that solutions to more than just the assigned problems would help them learn better. The response distribution for this question was skewed positive, with a 3.9 Likert-scale average. Three fourths (75%) of the students responding to Question #7, and 83% for Question #3, felt that the timing of the availability of solutions under the standard practice was too restrictive; access to solutions while still working on the problems was clearly preferred. The distribution for Question #7 was the most strongly skewed of any on the questionnaire, with a 4.2 Likert-scale average, and the distribution of multiple-choices for Question #3 (see Figure 2) confirms this sentiment.

Figure 2.
Percent response distribution for multiple-choice answers to Question #3.

    Data from the last two questions relate student attitudes on two specific issues with those of instructors (Ginsberg et al., 1997). Students agree with instructors that it is desirable to first struggle with a problem on their own, although the distribution of student responses to Question #8 is uni-modal about a central maximum, with positive 3.3 Likert-scale average, whereas instructor opinion, expressed in written comments, was more uniformly positive. Instructor opinion was divided about whether the result of free student access to a complete solution manual would be detrimental or beneficial to learning outcomes. Student opinion was not. The response distribution to Question #9 is sharply skewed, with 70% of students agreeing, only 11% disagreeing, and a Likert-scale average of 4.0. The response to this question also suggests that most students desire to have more freedom and responsibility in managing their learning processes.

    Respondents were invited to record their further thoughts on the subject of the questionnaire; 50 students (or 22% of the total responding) did so in the space provided, and a few more wrote brief comments elsewhere. Not surprisingly, most written comments favored giving students more control over the knowledge represented by problem solutions, and the responsibility for using it to suit their own schedules and learning styles. For example: "You should leave the decision to the student. ... make the solutions available (at all times) and the students who want to wait can wait, and the students who want them before can get them before." [9312 - these numbers locate the source of a quotation in the database], "I think you should make all ... possible resources available ... Were in college now. If we don't know how to study ... to best learn the material, we'll just do poorly ..." [7428], "The only way I did good [sic] in Chem. last semester was to look at the detailed solution to every problem in the chapter as soon as I wanted to. I ended up getting a 100% on an exam where the class average was 48% ..." [5701], "... The answers to HW should be available before HW is due, so that I can learn from them while I still care, not after I fail a quiz." [4562], "It is very discouraging to finish a problem and have to wait a week to find out if it is right. ... if I can't figure it out, it is helpful to work with the solution to learn how to solve it." [1405], "I realize that an available solution manual might lead some students to simply copy answers onto paper to hand in as homework. However, ... I like working on the problems and then being able to check my work before it is due. This ... works well for me ... and it helps me prepare questions for discussions..." [6535], "... have a solution manual in the bookstore for students to buy..." [4055].

    Another point raised in many comments was the desirability of having the problem solutions available on e-mail or a readily accessible computer network: "I think an ftp site ... for all solutions would make it very accessible and would help me learn better." [9723]. (Regulations on the electronic distribution of copyrighted material must be observed.) Many students remarked that their very tight schedules could not accommodate a real-time trip to the library: "I would use the solutions ... if they were available when I wanted them. I'm busy all day and can't get to the library to make photocopies until around 2-3 am, and then the library is closed." [7824]. The fact that several comments were directed at aspects of the course outside the subject of the survey, perhaps indicates students' openness in participating in the survey.

    The results of this survey of 227 science and engineering students, conducted four weeks into an introductory, calculus-level physics course, can be summarized and interpreted as follows:

* A majority of students reported using solutions to assigned problems, for verification or review of their understanding of problems and concepts, at least occasionally. (Access to the solutions was provided via library reserve according to standard practice, i.e. after discussion section meetings and the submission of homework.) For a minority, the time required to commute to the library was a significant obstacle; hardly any used alternative published solution manual aids.

* Although expressing only mild dissatisfaction with the existing restrictions on access imposed in their course, students believed strongly that freer access to solutions, while they were still engaged in working on the assignments, would help them learn better. In response to questions, 83% favored access to solutions before assignments were due, 77% agreed that unrestricted access was better suited to their way of learning, and 67% believed that solutions to more than just the assigned problems would help them.

* Students agreed, less emphatically (48% agree, 26% disagree), that struggling with a problem on their own was beneficial, but overwhelmingly (70% agree, 11% disagree) desired the option of deciding for themselves when and how to use a complete solution manual to all the problems in their textbook.

    The attitudes of students and instructors (Ginsberg et al., 1997), in the samples of each group surveyed, differ markedly in certain respects. Students believe that their ability to learn would benefit from free access to problem solutions, whereas most instructors believe the contrary. Instructors see restricted access as compelling students to think, and free access as allowing them to avoid thinking. Students see restricted access as an obstacle to learning, and free access as a tool which they can control in order to optimize learning. Students appear to appreciate the effects of immediate feedback from solutions; instructors seem to fear the effects of premature feedback. Both viewpoints undoubtedly have some merits, which need to be distinguished and evaluated, possibly in the future, on the basis of actual classroom data. (Instructors also regard restricted access as a necessary precondition for grading homework, but this survey instrument was not designed to elicit student opinion about this subject.) How does student ownership of understanding, as represented by free access to problem solutions, affect student outcomes in an introductory physics course? These, and other pedagogical issues identified in the previous survey of instructors, remain as questions for further study.

    The authors are grateful to William Skocpol, James Rohlf, and their colleagues at Boston University, for their cooperation, participation, and advice in administrating this survey, and to their students in Physics 211 for responding to the questionnaire. We also thank Brian Clarridge, of the Center for Survey Research at U.Mass.Boston, for his help in constructing the survey instrument.

    Candy, P. C. (1991). Self-Direction for Lifelong Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Fowler, Jr., Floyd J. (1995). Improving Survey Questions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Galbraith, M. W. (1990). "Attributes and Skills of an Adult Educator". In Michael Galbraith (ed.) Adult Learning Methods. Malabar, FL: Krieger Pub. Co.

    Ginsberg, Edw. S., Panasuk, Regina M., & George, Simon (1997). "Survey of Physics Instructor Attitudes on Student Access to Problem Solutions". Electronic Journal of Science Education [Online]. Available: http://unr.edu/homepage/jcannon/ejse/ejsev2n2.html [1997, December].

    Hiemstra, R. & Sisco, B. R. (1987). Individualizing Instruction: Making Learning Personal, Empowering, and Successful. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Usher, R. (1986). "Adult Students and Their Experience: Developing a Resource for Learning". Studies in the Education of Adults, 18(1), 24-34.
 
 

Please Read: This questionnaire is intended to gather information about how best to provide you with access to the solutions to problems in your textbook. Your answers and comments are important for this project. Thanks for responding.

Enter the last four digits of your student number: __ __ __ __ .

(This questionnaire is strictly confidential and will not affect course grades in any way. Some identification is necessary only for correlation of results with other statistical data.)

Instructions: Please answer the following questions both by circling the most appropriate numbered response, and by writing answers and comments in the spaces provided.

1. How often do you consult the solutions to the assigned problems in this course (or Xerox copies thereof) on reserve in the library?

    1. for almost every problem {21}

    2. for a majority of problems {29}

    3. for about half of the problems {17}

    4. for an occasional problem {72}

    5. never {87}

2. How have you used these solutions? (Circle all that apply.)

    1. to check a method or answer {119}

    2. to explore an alternative approach {31}

    3. to study a problem you didnÆt see done in class {72}

    4. to review a concept or problem (for example, before exams) {77}

    5. other (please describe)______________________________ {6}
 

3. In your opinion, when is the best time to provide access to the solutions to assigned problems?

    1. when the problems are first assigned {103}

    2. sometime after the problems are assigned, but before the assignment is due {83}

    3. when the assignment is turned in {19}

    4. when the assignment is handed back to the student {18}

    5. other (please specify)______________________________ {2}

4. Do you use any other problem solution book? (check one)

___No {213}

___Yes (please indicate)_______________________________ {13}

Please answer the questions on the other side of this page.

Instructions continued: Please indicate disagreement or agreement with the statements below, on a scale where
1 = completely disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = completely agree.

AGREE--- <-DISAGREE

5. The way the solutions are presently made available in this course is about right for my way of learning the concepts behind the problems. 1 2 3 4 5

6. I could learn better if the solutions to more than just the assigned problems were made available. 1 2 3 4 5

7. I could learn better if I were free to consult the available solutions whenever I wished. 1 2 3 4 5

8. I learn best, in most cases, by first struggling with a problem on my own without being allowed to look at the solution. 1 2 3 4 5

9. I could learn better if I could decide for myself when and how to use a complete solution manual to all the problems in my textbook. 1 2 3 4 5

Comments: (Use the space below to record further thoughts about the subject of this questionnaire.)
 
 

About the authors. . .

Edward S. Ginsberg
Associate Professor of Physics
Office Address:  Dept. of Physics, U. Mass. Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd,  Boston, MA 02125-3393
Tel. 617-287-6059,  FAX 617-287-6053
Degrees & Institutions:  AB, ScB, Brown University; MS, PhD, Stanford University.

Regina M. Panassuk
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Science Education
Office Address:  College of Education - West Campus, U. Mass. Lowell, 1 University  Ave., Lowell, MA 01854
Degrees & Institutions:  BS (electrical engineering), St. Petersburg Institute of Electrical  Engineering; MS (mathematics), St. Petersburg Pedagogical
University; PhD (mathematics education), St. Petersburg University.

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