Cognitive variables in problem solving in chemistry: A revisited study

Abstract

This is a revisited study on the role of cognitive variables, viz., concept relatedness, idea association, problem translating skill, prior problem solving experience, specific knowledge, and relevant but nonspecific knowledge in problem solving performance in chemistry. Two hundred seventy-nine preuniversity chemistry students from six Singapore junior colleges were involved in this study. This article presents results from the current Singaporean and the previous Australian studies on the relationships between the cognitive variables and problem solving performance in three electrochemistry problems of different degrees of familiarity for comparisons. The two studies confirm that the aforementioned cognitive variables, except concept relatedness, are significant determining variables of problem solving performance. Idea association and problem translating skill are the more important predictors for solving the familiar problem. The five cognitive variables, idea association, problem translating skill, prior problem solving experience, specific knowledge, and relevant but nonspecific knowledge, are all significant predictors of problem solving performance on solving the partially familiar problem. Among them, idea association is the most influential predictor. Problem translating skill is a significant predictor for unfamiliar problems. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.