Physics experts use a wide variety of representations (diagrammatic, graphical, verbal, mathematical etc.) to represent physics concepts and therefore, in order to help students transition towards expertise in physics, instruction should, at least in part, improve students’ facility with multiple representations of physics concepts. In order for instruction to more effective in this regard, instructors and teaching assistants should be familiar with common student difficulties and misconceptions regarding commonly used representations of concepts. In this talk, I will discuss several research findings pertaining to the impact of using representations in physics problem solving and provide recommendations for instruction. In addition, I will discuss research results on the extent to which teaching assistants are familiar with common introductory student difficulties with graphical representations of motion. Finally, I will also discuss the extent to which both instructors and teaching assistants know common student misconceptions about force and motion as revealed by the Force Concept Inventory.
