| Sumario: | One of the trends in science education today is toward individualization of instruction. New curricular programs are attempting to consider differential needs by producing instructional materials designed for individual use-the rationale being that such materials will cater to differences in individual learning styles, aptitudes, or whatever. But how individual differences are being considered in these efforts is not at all clear. Studies reported indicate that instructional decisions, decisions such as which activity to pursue and/or how much time to spend, usually rest with the learner, as they rightly should. While such studies, could serve admirably to analyze ‘how’ the learner functions in such a setting, it does little, if anything, to enable one to determine ‘why’ the learner functions as he does and to relate explanations to any established theory of learning. This study represents an effort at the identification of specific individual differences in learning within one subject matter area and the analysis of their relationship to various learning-related parameters. Problem solving is considered basic for developing an understanding of the processes as well as the content of science. A better understanding of the role of problem solving abilities in the learning process, would enable one more fully to comprehend the nature of learning. This study focuses on differences in problem solving approaches among college physics students using a theoretical framework derived from the ideas of David P. Ausubel (1968).
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