Acquisition Of Problem-solving Skills Research Articles

Teaching science problem solving: An overview of experimental work

AbstractThe traditional approach to teaching science problem solving is having the students work individually on a large number of problems. This approach has long been overtaken by research suggesting and testing other methods, which are expected to be more effective. To get an overview of the characteristics of good and innovative problem‐solving teaching strategies, we performed an analysis of a number of articles published between 1985 and 1995 in high‐standard international journals, describing experimental research into the effectiveness of a wide variety of teaching strategies for science problem solving. To characterize the teaching strategies found, we used a model of the capacities needed for effective science problem solving, composed of a knowledge base and a skills base. The relations between the cognitive capacities required by the experimental or control treatments and those of the model were specified and used as independent variables. Other independent variables were learning conditions such as feedback and group work. As a dependent variable we used standardized learning effects. We identified 22 articles describing 40 experiments that met the standards we deemed necessary for a meta‐analysis. These experiments were analyzed both with quantitative (correlational) methods and with a systematic qualitative method. A few of the independent variables were found to characterize effective strategies for teaching science problem solving. Effective treatments all gave attention to the structure and function (the schemata) of the knowledge base, whereas attention to knowledge of strategy and the practice of problem solving turned out to have little effect. As for learning conditions, both providing the learners with guidelines and criteria they can use in judging their own problem‐solving process and products, and providing immediate feedback to them were found to be important prerequisites for the acquisition of problem‐solving skills. Group work did not lead to positive effects unless combined with other variables, such as guidelines and feedback. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 442–468, 2001

The Acquisition of Problem-Solving Skills Through the Instruction in Siegel and Spivack's Problem-Solving Therapy for the Chronic Schizophrenic

ABSTRACT Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an occupational therapy intervention based on Siegel and Spivack's Problem-Solving Therapy in improving interpersonal problem-solving skills for chronic schizophrenic patients. The effect of the acquisition of interpersonal problem-solving skills on raising self-esteem was also examined. Method: A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest comparison group design was employed with a convenient sample of 18 participants in the Provincial Taoyuan Mental Hospital, Pali Branch of Taiwan. Interpersonal problem-solving skills and self-esteem were measured by: pre-in-tervention and post-intervention administrations of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure and the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventories-Second Edition, respectively. Results: Compared with the comparison group, the treatment group showed statistically significant improvement in the scores on the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure after treatment, but not on the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventories-Second Edition. Conclusion: The findings established the efficacy of Siegel and Spivack's Problem-Solving Therapy on interpersonal problem-solving cognition of the chronic schizophrenic.

Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding

Learning involves the integration of new information into existing knowledge. Generating explanations to oneself (self-explaining) facilitates that integration process. Previously, self-explanation has been shown to improve the acquisition of problem-solving skills when studying worked-out examples. This study extends that finding, showing that self-explanation can also be facilitative when it is explicitly promoted, in the context of learning declarative knowledge from an expository text. Without any extensive training, 14 eighth-grade students were merely asked to self-explain after reading each line of a passage on the human circulatory system. Ten students in the control group read the same text twice, but were not prompted to self-explain. All of the students were tested for their circulatory system knowledge before and after reading the text. The prompted group had a greater gain from the pretest to the posttest. Moreover, prompted students who generated a large number of self-explanations (the high explainers) learned with greater understanding than low explainers. Understanding was assessed by answering very complex questions and inducing the function of a component when it was only implicitly stated. Understanding was further captured by a mental model analysis of the self-explanation protocols. High explainers all achieved the correct mental model of the circulatory system, whereas many of the unprompted students as well as the low explainers did not. Three processing characteristics of self-explaining are considered as reasons for the gains in deeper understanding.

Impact of social problem-solving training on aggressive boys: Skill acquisition, behavior change, and generalization

This study examined the impact of social problem-solving training on the behavior of five aggressive boys. Acquisition of problem-solving skills and changes in classroom behavior were evaluated using multiple-baseline designs within and across subjects. A generalization-programming procedure to promote the use of problem-solving skills in the natural environment was introduced across children in multiple-baseline fashion. Direct observation and behavior ratings were used to evaluate the treatment. Results indicated that each subject acquired the problem-solving skills at levels comparable to well-adjusted peers. Only one child showed behavioral improvement coincident with problem-solving skill acquisition. Three others showed moderate behavior change after the generalization-programming procedure was introduced. Only one child's gains on teacher ratings were maintained at the 6-month followup. The results suggest that cognitive-behavioral treatment of childrens' aggressive behavior may produce changes of limited magnitude and durability.

Towards powerful learning environments for the acquisition of problem-solving skills

It is generally agreed that acquiring thinking and problem-solving skills is nowadays a primary objective of general education. Responding appropriately to this challenge requires an answer to the following questions: 1. what does the acquisition of problem-solving skills involve, and 2. how can those abilities be fostered through systematic instruction? This contribution describes a four-step model of skilled problem-solving processes, and gives an overview of three major categories of cognitive skills involved in competent problem solving, namely, the flexible and integrated application of domain-specific knowledge, of heuristic methods, and of metacognitive skills. Furthermore, a framework is presented for the design and elaboration of powerful teaching-learning environments in which such problem-solving skills can be acquired efficiently. Two basic ideas underlying this model are: the view of learning as a constructive process, and the idea of cognitive apprenticeship as an effective and appropriate method for learning and teaching. Finally, some recent research findings supporting the educational significance of the framework are briefly reviewed.

Role play for the clinical tutor: towards problem-based learning

A method of helping students learn paediatrics was developed utilizing role play as a stimulus to problem-based learning to arrive at a diagnosis. The tutor briefly stated a common paediatric problem and then took on the role of the patient and/or child, allowing himself to be interviewed by students working co-operatively in a group. This process was interrupted by the students to discuss their progress and to determine what further information was required. A suitable patient was available to be examined if requested by the students. Although there was an initial tendency on the part of students to regard the exercise as 'unreal', they delighted in refining their communication skills and trying out their skills in problem solving. The tutor had to adopt a non-traditional role, as he was not directing the students or interrupting, so as to 'teach' the students more efficient information-gathering techniques or to correct any error made. The students were able to define and complete set tasks which they derived out of the session. The introduction of this technique encourages independent learning and the acquisition of problem-solving skills, and the students enthusiastically accepted this novel way of learning. The ready availability and versatility of the tutor allowed him to be used as the principal resource, and did away with the need for (and the additional expense of) specially constructed problem-based learning units, often unavailable in most departments. The method is described in detail so that other clinical tutors may feel encouraged to adopt a similar strategy.

The National Crisis in Verbal Problem Solving in Mathematics: A Proposal for Examining the Role of Basal Mathematics Programs

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1980) recommended that "problem solving must be the focus of school mathematics in the 1980's" (p. 2). In view of this significant concern over mathematics word-problem-solving instruction and the significant impact commercial instructional materials have on teachers and students, we recommend "procedures of partial specification" (Mosenthal, 1984, p. 197) for examining what takes place in basal mathematics programs. The article consists of 3 components. First, we argue the importance of evaluating mathematics word-problem-solving instruction in basal curriculum programs. Second, we review 6 prominent areas of the research literature on mathematical problem solving in an effort to identify the critical features that should be considered in the analysis of word-problem-solving instruction in commercially developed basal mathematics programs. These areas include (a) the role of implicit models of cognition in solving verbal problems, (b) the role of metacognition in word-problem solving, (c) learner characteristics associated with successful word-problem solution, (d) characteristics of word problems, (e) classification systems for mathematical word problems, and (f) instructional programs and techniques that best facilitate the acquisition of problem-solving skills. Finally, we propose guidelines for evaluating word-problem-solving instruction in basal mathematics programs.

Social Skills Training Within a Day Treatment Program for Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents

This paper descibes a variety of procedures for social skills training that are used in a complementary manner within a day treatment program for emotionally disturbed adoloscents. The emphasis within the program is on combining procedures to produce durable effects rather than on studying the specific effects of individual procedures. Descriptions are provided of procedures for dealing with peer conflict and disruptive behavior in a manner that promotes the acquisition of problem-solving skills. Procedures for teaching social skills within structured classes are also presented, along with an evaluation of the outcome of these procedures, and a brief report of the overall outcome of the program.

The effects of behavior rehearsal and feedback on the acquisition of problem-solving skills in distressed and nondistressed couples

Couples who were paid to participate in an experimental marital enrichment program were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions or to a control group. All groups received training in solving marital problems, but the groups differed according to how they were trained; some received feedback (FB) on their previous taped performances, some had the opportunity to practice the skills suggested by the therapist (BR), some had both (complete treatment), and some simply were presented with instructions. Changes in problem-solving skills were assessed by behavioral observations of the frequency of positive problem-solving behavior before and after treatment, and global ratings of problem-solving effectiveness made by trained raters. In general, the complete treatment condition produced greater changes from pre- to post-test than any other condition. Couples in this condition showed significantly greater increases in positive behavior than any other group, and on global ratings of problem-solving skills they evidenced the greatest improvement, although on this measure they did not improve significantly more than BR couples.

Integrating Engineering and Technical Communications in Sophomore Electrical Engineering Projects

Technical communications skills can be successfully taught to students in engineering courses without the expenditure of large amounts of class time if realistic design projects and reports are required of them. These design projects stimulate the acquisition of problem-solving skills by students. The use of handouts providing models of sample technical reports gives students reinforcement for the development of their technical communications skills.

Research into Learning Hierarchies

Learning hierarchy research began with a small preliminary study by Gagne (1962), in which he attempted to teach seven children how to find formulas for sums of terms in number series. Gagne suggested that this skill could not be acquired unless the learners possessed certain prerequisite skills, which were identified by asking what would the individual have to be able to do in order that he can attain successful performance on this task, provided he is given only instructions? [p. 358]. The same question was then applied to each of the prerequisite skills, thus identifying more skills; the process was continued until very basic skills were reached. In this way Gagn6 derived a network of elements which he called a hierarchy of knowledge. He taught the skills to the seven children, and observed that none of them acquired a skill without also acquiring all of the skills that were shown as subordinate to it in the hierarchy. This result suggested that, if hierarchies were generally valid representations of the sequences in which skills or elements of knowledge must be learned, then they would be valuable tools for shaping more effective instruction for the acquisition of problem-solving skills and knowledge in general. Despite this important implication, few investigations of the validity of hierarchies were performed in the subsequent decade, and these were almost totally restricted to subject matter in mathematics and science, and generally ended in inconclusive results. Causes of the inconclusive results need to be identified to improve future research.