Independent Problem Solving Research Articles

Adapting Team-Based Learning for Application in the Basic Electric Circuit Theory Sequence

Team-based learning (TBL) is a form of student-centered active learning in which students independently study new conceptual material before it is treated in the classroom, and then subsequently spend considerable classroom time working in groups on increasingly challenging problems and applications based on that new material. TBL provides students with opportunities to not only learn course content better than in the traditional lecture-based setting, but also to develop various transferable professional skills, such as self-directed independent learning, problem solving, and interpersonal team skills. Because of these potential benefits, TBL was adapted as the principal teaching and learning strategy in a two-course sophomore-level electric circuit theory sequence, where it has been used since 2010. This paper describes beneficial changes that have evolved in the implementation of TBL in the circuit theory sequence. Those changes have been based, in part, on student evaluations of the strategy, which are described. Finally, instruments used to assess student learning in the TBL-taught courses are also described. They provide evaluation information that suggests the described revised version of TBL is an effective way to facilitate learning of both technical content and several professional skills in the sophomore-level electric circuit theory sequence.

Employability and Skills Anticipation: Competences and Market Demands

Requirements of labour market and external environment are a competitive force asking for new competence of employee – ability to align with national and international labour market requirements. Overall, jobs are becoming more skilled in all categories. Routine tasks are progressively being replaced by technology therefore it is expected than in the nearest future there will be a greater need for skills, such as independent problem-solving, planning, organisation and communication, even in basic occupations.The aim of this research is to analyse the identified current and near future competences and qualification needs (core skills) and their recognition from companies and labour market. The survey has been done within the Lifelong Learning Programme Transfer of Innovation, Multilateral Projects, Leonardo Da Vinci project “Employability and Skills Anticipation Policies: a Social ROI Approach”, with the participation of five partner countries.

Parenting and independent problem-solving in preschool children with food allergy.

To examine autonomy-promoting parenting and independent problem-solving in children with food allergy. 66 children with food allergy, aged 3-6 years, and 67 age-matched healthy peers and their mothers were videotaped while completing easy and difficult puzzles. Coders recorded time to puzzle completion, children's direct and indirect requests for help, and maternal help-giving behaviors. Compared with healthy peers, younger (3- to 4-year-old) children with food allergy made more indirect requests for help during the easy puzzle, and their mothers were more likely to provide unnecessary help (i.e., explain where to place a puzzle piece). Differences were not found for older children. The results suggest that highly involved parenting practices that are medically necessary to manage food allergy may spill over into settings where high levels of involvement are not needed, and that young children with food allergy may be at increased risk for difficulties in autonomy development.

The “Hidden” Technology of Effective Parent Consultation: A Guided Participation Model for Promoting Change in Families

Parenting interventions based on social learning principles are amongst the most effective interventions available to prevent and manage social, emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. The most successful programs employ active skills training methods (modeling, rehearsal, practice, feedback and homework) to teach new parenting skills. However, effective parent consultation also involves a broader range of interpersonal and process skills such as building a collaborative relationship, facilitating parent receptivity to new ideas or skills, managing within session resistance, and important micro skills associated with clinical tasks such as promoting parents self-regulation, independent problem solving and autonomy. This paper aims to articulate the "hidden" technology of effective parent consultation and identify implications for research on mechanisms of change in parenting interventions and practitioner training.

Students’ Ability to Act Independently in University Studies

Independence is a fundamental personality trait that enables people to choose aims, tools and ways of activity and communication wisely and to act actively and efficiently. Opinions vary on when (at what age) and where (in a family / education institution) a person’s ability to learn and act independently should be developed most prominently (intensively). According to Linkaityte (2003), education at school is closely related to the objective to develop schoolchildren’s skills to look for information. The aim working with students is to provide them with sources of information and to support individual search for information, to encourage creativity, critical thinking and independent problem solving. However, that schools have to follow their programmes and independence is not significantly emphasized. On the other hand, the main function of higher education institutions is to “prepare students for their future activity, to develop their creative strengths, critical thinking, problem solving and constructive communication skills (Lietuvos aukstasis mokslas. Baltoji knyga 1999). One of the most important abilities of an active and responsible individual, who can act independently, is self-management, i.e. the ability to plan and organize individual learning process and ability to reflect. A university research has revealed that some of the 1 st year and 4 th year social science students describe learning independence as student’s participation in planning, monitoring, correcting and assessing one’s own learning process and results. Emphasis is given to creativity, ability to make the right decisions in a new learning situation when putting present and new knowledge together, the search for more diverse solutions, taking responsibility for the learning process and future learning outcomes.

Factors Affecting Students’ Change of Learning Behaviour

A model describing factors affecting students’ learning will be presented. The model was based on Norman and Prichard's work which identified three major components of the teaching and learning situation, namely Entry Mastery, Student Motivation and Opportunity to Learn. I have focused on two components: Opportunity to Learn and Students’Motivation in the teaching of Engineering Mathematics at UTM. I changed my teaching practice to support the development of students’ independent learning and problem solving skills. Naturalistic data of class interactions and how they influence students’ motivation and attitudes towards learning will be presented. From the analysis, additional elements were added to the model.

Practice of case-based PBL teaching model in clinical immunology and laboratory teaching

Objective To train medical students' competence of independent thinking and problem solving and to improve the quality of teaching.Methods The case-based PBL teaching model was introduced to teaching practice for 25 undergraduates majoring in medical laboratory.The teaching process included pre-class mobilization,question,self-study,discussion and summary.Effectiveness of teaching was evaluated with questionnaire.Results For these medical students,the enthusiasm of learning ( 83.3％ ),ability of self-learning and information seeking ( 79.2％ ),ability of discussing and problem solving ( 79.2％ ),ability of scientific thinking and clinical reasoning ( 79.2％ ) were significantly improved.Teaching satisfaction rate of case-based PBL teaching model was up to 95.8％.Conclusion Better results of teaching were achieved and the case-based PBL teaching model is worth spreading. Key words: Medical education; Case teaching; Problem-based learning; Clinical immunology and laboratory immunology

Immigrants’ social integration as a function of approach–avoidance orientation and problem-solving style

Previous research has shown that immigrants’ approach orientation positively predicts their attitudes towards contact with host nationals (Matschke & Sassenberg, 2010). The present research builds on this previous work by investigating the extent to which immigrants’ independent vs. interdependent problem-solving style moderates the relation between approach–avoidance orientation and social integration. Interdependent problem-solvers rely on other people to achieve their goals. This interdependence was expected to reduce the influence of approach–avoidance orientation on integration amongst immigrants. Immigrants to Australia (N=137) completed a questionnaire that included measures of approach–avoidance orientation and problem-solving style. Participants also completed three measures of social integration: (1) proportion of Australian friends, (2) feelings of inclusion in Australian society, and (3) satisfaction with employment, accommodation, and life in Australia. Consistent with previous research, there was a positive relation between approach and social integration and a negative relation between avoidance and social integration. Consistent with predictions, problem-solving style moderated the relation for approach orientation: Only immigrants who were independent problem-solvers showed a significant positive relation between approach and social integration. The results are discussed in relation to Gable's (2006) model of approach and avoidance social goals and motives, and the implications for immigration services are considered.

Computer skills instruction for pre-service teachers: A comparison of three instructional approaches

The computer self-efficacy of teachers contributes positively to their technology integration self-efficacy. Many studies have examined instructional strategies that foster computer self-efficacy but not their corresponding impact on teachers’ technology integration self-efficacy. This study investigated the instructional strategies used for pre-service teacher computer skills instruction and their corresponding impact on teacher computer self-efficacy and technology integration self-efficacy. Using a multiple case-study approach, video recordings were made of the class sessions of three participating instructors throughout a semester. Content analysis of these video recordings found the instructors using three approaches of computer skills instruction: Extensive behavioral modeling, targeted behavioral modeling, and independent problem-solving. Analysis of pre and post-study student survey responses also found that the three instructional approaches raised their perceived computer self-efficacy. However, the effect sizes were largest when the independent problem-solving approach was used. This approach was also found to have had better motivational effects on students than the extensive behavioral modeling approach. On the other hand, computer skills instruction increased students’ technology integration self-efficacy only when instructors modeled teaching-related examples and provided students with multiple mastery experiences of technology integration practices. The applications of the three computer skills instructional approaches for teacher education are discussed.

An Interprofessional Simulation Promoting Collaboration and Problem Solving among Nursing and Allied Health Professional Students

An interprofessional simulation was developed to improve collaboration and problem solving among nursing, radiologic technology, respiratory, and occupational therapy students. The learning objective of the simulation was to facilitate a mutual and professional respect among health care professionals in an educational setting that would be modeled in clinical practice. Instructors from each discipline collaborated on the learning objectives for the simulation. Each discipline specified the expectations and the perceived roles their student would have within the simulation. The simulation allowed students the opportunity to interact with each other to provide safe and effective care for a patient with multiple health care needs. The postsimulation debriefing allowed students to discuss how patient care was prioritized and coordinated by the health care team. The study results indicated that students felt the simulation provided for interdisciplinary team work and an environment that supported working in a clinical situation involving peers. Students reported that they were permitted to explore various paths of delivering patient care during the simulation and that independent problem solving was facilitated.

Developing Mental Toughness: From Research to Practice

This article reviews recent evidence concerning the development of mental toughness in young athletes, from first involvement in sport through to early adulthood. The role and importance of genetics, environmental factors, and psychological-skills training in the development of mental toughness is discussed. In particular, environmental factors that can be manipulated and influenced by coaches and parents are emphasized to aid the transfer of knowledge from scientific research into applied practice. Of central importance is the development of independent problem-solving and personal responsibility through a challenging yet supportive learning environment. We argue that to develop mental toughness, young athletes must be gradually exposed to, rather than shielded from, demanding situations in training and competition in order to learn how to cope. Also, as athletes become more emotionally mature, they should become increasingly involved in making decisions regarding their own development. Athletes should be encouraged and supported in reflecting upon setbacks and failures that occur as a natural part of the developmental process. Negative experiences, as well as the confidence-boosting outcomes of achieving goals, provide opportunities for personal growth, and allow important lessons to be learned. Various practical suggestions are provided.

Teaching creativity in self-organizing studio network: implications for architectural education

Design education is traditionally developed for those related to creative arts such as artists, art object designers or professionals who search for new ideas in their designs. It is considered as a domain to awaken “creativity”. Creativity is discussed as a function of human brain and mostly interpreted in its psychological context. This paper discusses the social characteristics of an education medium for creativity in terms of a network theory. This model of design education, in which the studio group is regarded as a network, proposes that by setting up the primary underlying framework, students ultimately reach a common ground through their individual learning experiences that lead to a wide range of design variations. Consequently, this open-ended process helps enhance the students‟ independent problem-solving and innovative thinking skills. “Awareness”, “information exchange”, “role defining”, “continuous interaction” are related concepts in such a self-regulating interactive process of searching for creative solutions. The process will be studied under the light of recent discoveries on brain that are connected to the network theory. These ideas will be presented and illustrated through a case study of freshman design exercise implemented at Okan University Department of Architecture, Istanbul, Turkey. This learner-centered pedagogical framework can contribute to a theory of learning that can capture and convey the essential features of a metacognitive environment.

A comparison of US and Korean students' mathematics skills using a cognitive diagnostic testing method: linkage to instruction

The purposes of the present study were (a) to compare US and Korean 8th graders' mastery of knowledge and skills in the mathematics test of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 using a cognitive diagnostic testing method and (b) to find links between teachers' instruction and students' mastery of mathematics knowledge and skills. The participants included 740 US and 439 Korean 8th graders who took the Booklet 3 mathematics test. The results showed substantial differences between the US and Korean students' performance in problem restructuring and reasoning, measurement, and geometry. The most helpful instructional strategy for both Korean and US students was encouraging students' independent problem solving. Reviewing, re-teaching, and clarifying content were especially effective for the US students. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed.

The Impact of a Technology Coordinator's Belief System upon Using Technology to Create a Community's History

As it has been shown that teachers of social studies content are less likely than teachers of other content areas to utilize technology in their classroom, this study focuses on one instructional technology coordinators’ beliefs towards technology, instruction, and students and how these beliefs impacted how technology was utilized during a technology-enriched community history project with a group of fourth-grade students. It was determined that the instructional technology coordinators’ beliefs included the following: (a) technology should serve as a tool and should be seamlessly integrated into the curriculum; (b) the teacher should construct meaningful experiences that allow students to become engaged in the learning process; however, before guiding student discovery, the teacher needs to explicitly teach basic technological skills; (c) and all students are able to learn and are capable of engaging in independent problem solving and critical thinking at some level. Her beliefs manifested themselves daily, particularly in the way that she approached instruction and integrated technology seamlessly into the curriculum. Through this study, it was found that the technology coordinator's beliefs toward technology, instruction, and her students directly impacted how technology was used in her classroom.

Current Issues: Training To Ensure Quality Practicum Supervision of Graduate Students

Abstract Appropriate supervision and effective clinical instruction are essential to the education of future speech-language pathologists. Practicum supervisors assist graduate students with their integration of academic knowledge and clinical skills, which leads to their independent thinking and problem solving, and ultimately to their demonstration of clinical competencies. Despite this vital role, many supervisors do not have the education and training to be proficient mentors. Therefore, Camtasia Studio was used at the University of Virginia to create two short training programs (each 17 minutes in length) to support speech-language pathologists involved in supervisory roles at off-site facilities. Furthermore, survey results completed by these professionals following the initial trainings help to rationalize the need for additional trainings and more wide-spread instruction of speech-language pathologists who take on the role as clinical supervisor.

Veteran Teachers’ Use of Recommended Practices in Deaf Education

Deaf education teacher preparation programs face the likelihood that their graduates may not implement evidenced-based practices they were taught once they have graduated. The literature suggests that new teachers follow the school culture where they work rather than methods and strategies taught in their preparation programs. To investigate whether teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) implement recommended practices, 23 teachers from three schools for the deaf were interviewed about their implementation and use of two recommended practices: independent reading and problem solving. The guiding questions were: Do teachers of students who are DHH use independent reading and problem solving after the enculturation process? If so, to what level? If not, can a review improve their level of use? Results demonstrated, at least regarding these two practices, that teachers of students who are DHH do implement evidence-based practices in their classrooms.

The Negotiated Project Approach: Project-Based Learning without Leaving the Standards Behind

The purpose this study was to explore how a veteran first-grade teacher collaboratively negotiated the implementation of a project with her students while, at the same time, addressed grade-level standards. Researchers investigated the teacher's strategies for integrating the district's standards into project topics, investigative activ- ities, and final presentations. They also examined the teacher's strategies for promoting students' participation in project planning and independent problem-solving. Data sources included field notes, teacher interviews, videotaped observations, and transcribed teacher, and student inter- views. As an extension to teacher-directed approaches to implementing the project approach, the results of this study revealed a collaborative approach to implementing projects that allowed the teacher and the students to work together for project planning and learning. The teacher felt suc- cessful with meeting grade level learning needs, and the students were given the opportunity to fuel their learning by expressing their natural interests and curiosities, and become problem solvers.

The effects of students' cognitive styles on conceptual understandings and problem‐solving skills in introductory mechanics

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationship among freshmen students' Field depended or field independent (FD/FI) cognitive style, conceptual understandings, and problem solving skills in mechanics. The sample consisted of 213 freshmen (female = 111, male = 102; age range 17–21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course required for science education prospective teachers. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in three successive years. At the beginning of each semester the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and FD/FI tendency of students, respectively. After completion of the course, the FCI and the Mechanics Base Line Test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that students conceptual understanding were not statistically related to their FD/FI cognitive styles for both pre and post results. However, their problem‐solving skills were statistically related to their FD/FI cognitive style. The findings of the present and previous studies are compared, and the possible effects of the present studies on previous studies on teaching, learning and assessment for introductory mechanics are discussed.

PERSPECTIVES IN MEDICAL EDUCATION 5. Implementing a More Integrated, Interactive and Interesting Curriculum to Improve Japanese Medical Education

Exact parallels can be drawn between the shortcomings in medical education in the US in the 80s and those prevalent in Japan today. Research and clinical practice had primacy over teaching, and primary care medicine, with its focus on humanistic principles, was subordinated to specialization and tertiary care. US medical schools undertook a wide-ranging reform of the traditional curriculum, recognizing its four major shortcomings. These were (i) an institutional failure to accord academic status to teaching, resulting in a disincentive to teach, (ii) a failure by faculty to perceive a shared interest in education, resulting in teaching that was fragmented and even contradictory, (iii) a failure to integrate preclinical and clinical material, resulting in fragmented learning, (iv) a failure to encourage the development of the most important attributes of a physician (independent thinking, problem solving, and self-directed learning). The reform of medical education in the US was achieved through a wholesale restructuring that (i) integrated basic science with clinical medicine across the curriculum; (ii) coordinated teaching across departments by organizing the curriculum into "blocks"; (iii) integrated problem based instruction into the curriculum to encourage active learning; and (iv) elevated the importance of both teaching and primary care. The successful effort to reform medical education in the US can serve as a source of encouragement and a road map for academic institutions in Japan, like Keio University, who recognize the same shortcomings in Japanese medical education and are attempting to develop and implement a curriculum that is more integrated and problem-oriented.

Teaching for understanding and/or self-regulated learning? A video-based analysis of reform-oriented mathematics instruction in Switzerland

In mathematics instruction, can a teacher implement surface features of instruction that foster self-regulated learning as well as achieve quality at the deeper level of instruction, that is, focus on higher-order thinking, problem-solving, and mathematical modeling? An educational reform effort in Switzerland, which is based on constructivist and sociocultural theories of mathematics learning, targets both these dimensions: self-regulated learning and conceptual understanding. We examined the realization of the two dimensions in classroom instruction in a video-based study of 79 eighth-grade math classes using three kinds of data: videotapes of mathematics lessons, student and teacher questionnaires, and achievement tests. As to the surface level of instruction, teachers reported how frequently they provided opportunities for self-regulated learning. With regard to the deeper level of instruction, teachers reported how frequently they provided opportunities for independent problem solving. In addition, we examined the extent to which teachers’ pedagogical beliefs reflected a constructivist orientation. The results showed that teachers implemented the two dimensions relatively independently of one another. Teachers’ constructivist-oriented beliefs influenced only opportunities provided for independent problem solving and did not affect opportunities for self-regulated learning. Opportunities for self-regulated learning had a positive effect on students’ learning experience. Professional development should encourage teachers to take greater account of both surface-level and deeper-level (quality) features of instruction.