In physics class, exercises can also cause problems . . .

Abstract

In a traditional school framework, what distinguishes a student who manages to find the correct solution to an exercise from one who does not? French tenth‐grade physics classes were observed as they studied electric circuits over a one‐year period. An analysis, both by exercise and by student group, is presented of tests taken during the year. The main point separating ‘average’ students from ‘good’ ones is their performance in ‘implicitly difficult exercises’, that is, in what appears beforehand to be a minor deviation from the standard ones. Unfortunately, this is not mainly a consequence of an incorrect pedagogical orientation of teachers; deviations from the path potentialize actual conceptual and procedural difficulties, especially for average students, those for whom an improvement on physics teaching methods would have the greatest importance.