Comparing problem solving performance of physics students in inquiry‐based and traditional introductory physics courses

Performance of students in an introductory inquiry‐based physics class is compared with that of students in three other introductory physics courses on two different examination problems. One problem is a qualitative problem, typical of those used in inquiry‐based physics. The second problem is a quantitative problem, similar to those found in a standard introductory physics text. The students in the inquiry‐based physics course were all elementary education majors. They performed significantly better than the engineering students and as well as the honors physics students on the two problems used.