The Impact of Problem-Solving Instruction on Middle School Students’ Physical Science Learning: Interplays of Knowledge, Reasoning, and Problem Solving

Hsiao-Ching She,Li-Yu Huang,Shu-Chuan Cheng

doi:10.12973/ejmste/80902

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of problem solving instruction on 126 middle school students’ learning of physical science in terms of their scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and problem solving ability. This study used a quasi-experiment with one factorial design of instructional approaches (problem solving and traditional hands-on learning). Sixty-one students participated in problem solving while sixty-five students participated in traditional hands-on learning. Results indicate that the problem solving group significantly outperformed the traditional hands-on learning group for both immediate and retaining effect, regardless of scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and scientific problem solving abilities. The regression results also indicated that the scientific concept dependent reasoning test is the best predictor for scientific problem solving ability, followed by scientific knowledge itself. Our study demonstrates that students’ scientific knowledge, reasoning and problem solving all are successfully improved after receiving six weeks scientific problem solving.

Highlights

Problem solving involves “actionable knowledge” which embodies the inter-meshing of thought and action (Watts, 1994)
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of problem solving instruction on 126 middle school students’ learning of physical science in terms of their scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and problem solving ability
There is a lack of studies exploring whether students’ scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and scientific problem solving can be improved by participating in a semester-long problem solving program

Summary

Introduction

Problem solving involves “actionable knowledge” which embodies the inter-meshing of thought and action (Watts, 1994). Studies have indicated that learning to solve problems in scientific domains, such as physics, requires understanding conceptual knowledge (Hambrick & Engle, 2003; Lucangeli, Tressoldi, & Cendron, 1998). Voss, Greene, Post, & Penner (1983) found that domain-specific knowledge was the best predictor of performance in solving ill-structured problems. There is a lack of studies exploring whether students’ scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and scientific problem solving can be improved by participating in a semester-long problem solving program. There is a shortage of studies that explore the relationship among scientific reasoning, scientific knowledge and problem solving. Our study investigated the effectiveness of problem solving in enhancing students’ scientific knowledge, scientific concept dependent reasoning and problem solving ability across time, and the relationships among reasoning, scientific conception and problem solving

Objectives

Methods

Results