Enhancing Collaborative Problem Solving: The Impact of Course Reform in Introductory Physics Discussion Sections

Last year, we presented our plans for reforming introductory physics discussion sections to enhance collaborative problem solving (CPS). Building on that foundation, this year we report results from the full-scale implementation of the reform in Physics 211, a large-enrollment course with over 900 students and 17 teaching assistants (TAs). Grounded in sociocultural perspectives on learning, the reform included three key elements: (1) the introduction of whiteboards as shared displays to promote joint reasoning, (2) the redesign of problem sets into open-ended, context-rich tasks to encourage interdependence and discourse, and (3) structured professional development for TAs focused on facilitating CPS.

Data sources include classroom observations and student surveys conducted across reformed and non-reformed sections. Comparative analyses indicate that the incorporation of shared displays and open-ended collaboration-worthy problems significantly increased the frequency of student interactions. In reformed sections, TAs actively facilitated group discussions, establishing norms for collaboration and collective sense-making. These results highlight the value of scaling structural supports and targeted professional development to cultivate collaborative learning environments in large-enrollment physics courses.