Students in introductory physics struggle with vector algebra and these
challenges are often associated with contextual and representational features
of the problems. Performance on problems about cross product direction is
particularly poor and some research suggests that this may be primarily due to
misapplied right-hand rules. However, few studies have had the resolution to
explore student use of right-hand rules in detail. This study reviews
literature in several disciplines, including spatial cognition, to identify ten
contextual and representational problem features that are most likely to
influence performance on problems requiring a right-hand rule. Two quantitative
measures of performance (correctness and response time) and two qualitative
measures (methods used and type of errors made) were used to explore the impact
of these problem features on student performance. Quantitative results are
consistent with expectations from the literature, but reveal that some features
(such as the type of reasoning required and the physical awkwardness of using a
right-hand rule) have a greater impact than others (such as whether the vectors
are placed together or separate). Additional insight is gained by the
qualitative analysis, including identifying sources of difficulty not
previously discussed in the literature and revealing that the use of
supplemental methods, such as physically rotating the paper, can mitigate
errors associated with certain features
