ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the differences between how physics problems are represented in novices and experts in relation to the organisation of physics knowledge. Different experiments included; problem categories as a means of representation, category differences used by experts and novices, differences in category knowledge, and aspects of the problems that form problem categorisation and how they’re represented. Prior knowledge about problems and their solutions are built through experience with many different types of problems. In this way, experts have acquired rich knowledge about different types of problems and their solutions which they store in their long-term memory; that is they have rich knowledge schemata. Research that compares the prior knowledge of beginners with that of experts shows that the difference is not only quantitative but also qualitatively.
