Semi-Automated Analysis of Protocols From Novices and Experts Solving Physics Problems

PDP (Protocol Diaqnostic Program) is a proqram for analyzing think-aloud protocols of subjects solvinq elementary physics problems *. Two versions of PDP implement models of problem solving behaviour at novice and intermediate levels of expertise. In order to compare the behaviour of the models with think-aloud protocols of subjects, PDP is equiped with a think-aloud component, which communicates with a human coder. Any discrepancies between the behaviour of the model and the subject activate a diaqnostic component, which identifies the deviation and may redirect the behaviour of the model. The output of the system is an analysis of a protocol in terms of the computational model, annotated with possible discrepancies between model and subject. Results obtained by analyzing a number of protocols of experts and novices are presented.