Analysis of a problem solving situation in physics, in an interlocution setting between a specialist and a novice, in the light of Vergnaud's conceptual fields theory

This paper is put of a larger study dealing with problem solving in physics, from the point of view of cognitive development psychology, aiming at its role in physics education. Our focus in this paper lies in a problem solving procedure that stresses verbal exchange between a specialist and a novice in a social interaction, in such a way that the cognitive regulations concerning a given conceptual field would be evidenced. Two cases were studied: two students from a precollege course participated in five individual problem solving sessions involving electric circuits. The analysis of these sessions suggested that: one of the subjects had more assimilation schemes than the other one to make sense of problematic situations in the conceptual field of electricity; that the role of the specialist in the proposed social interaction is very important and his/her mastery of the subject matter is essential; that the theory of conceptual fields is an adequate framework for research studies on problem solving in physics.