The Venezuelan Physics Olympiad is aimed at high school students. The syllabus at the high school level includes mechanics, electricity and magnetism, vibrations and waves, optics, fluid statics, and energy and its transformations. The Venezuelan Physics Olympiad consists of three tests. The preliminary test has 20 problems. They are multiple choice questions with a choice of five options. The theory test has 8 or 10 open-ended problems and the experimental final test is a problem whose solution it is made at the laboratory. The results of the five Venezuelan Physics Olympiads, 1991–1995, were analyzed. It was found that students solve physics problems the same way they solve mathematics exercises (1, 2). They emphasized the mathematical processes too much and paid little attention to description and analysis of the physical situation involved. Also, we observed that students did not develop experimental skills at school and their experience with laboratory work is very poor. According to these results, we designed two workshops for in-service physics teachers. One workshop focuses on solving pencil-and-paper-type problems, and the other one provides knowledge and skills about experimental work. Both workshops are designed with a cognitive approach (3–7).

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