Comparison of students' approaches to conceptually similar physics and mathematics problems

The purpose of the thesis is to establish whether and how the ability to solve mathematical problems relate to solving physical problems with the same or similar mathematical steps. General opinion, that physical problems appear due to ignorance of mathematics, already prompted me to focus on this subject in my graduate paper. Effectiveness of solving conceptually similar problems in the context of mathematics and other areas was also established by presented research. All collected data summarized that mathematical proficiency is not a sufficient condition for successfulness in other areas. In the thesis the analysis and findings of conceptually similar physics and mathematical problem solving comparison between 1st year Primary Teacher Education students and physics students are presented. It showed that mathematical knowledge is not the only condition for successful physical problem solving and that reasons for mistake making can be connected to other factors, that are not a consequence of mathematical ignorance