Problem-solving Tasks Research Articles

Interpreting young children’s multiplicative strategies through their drawn representations

The exploration of children’s drawings as mathematical representations is a current focus in early years mathematics education research. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of 72 kindergarten to Grade 3 (5 to 8 years old) children’s drawings produced during problem-solving tasks centred on multiplicative strategies. Existing frameworks for the developmental sequence of mathematical drawings and the progression of children’s strategies for multiplicative situations were an interpretive lens through which to analyse the drawings. Children used pictographic and iconic drawing types to represent the “story” in the problem and the multiplicative strategies employed to solve the tasks. Exploration of the children’s drawings suggested that as children’s drawings become more structural, schematic in nature, it may be easier for children to show their understanding of the structural elements of multiplicative relationships. Results revealed that structural elements of multiplicative relationships were more easily seen in iconic representations; however, both pictographic and iconic drawings were useful to observe counting, additive, and multiplicative strategies when mathematical elements of the problem were visible. Additional representations attached to the drawings (e.g. numerical) were needed to confirm children’s strategies when their drawings lacked structure. These findings have implications for how young children’s drawings are interpreted by classroom teachers. The interpretation of these drawings suggested that some children may not yet realise how their drawings in mathematics need to shift from illustrations of the problem’s story context to representing mathematical ideas and processes — which requires intentional teaching of the purpose of drawings for mathematical contexts.

A framework for designing problem solving task for secondary school mathematics classroom

Although problem solving has been playing a critical role in the teaching and learning of mathematics in K-12 in many countries in the world, anecdotal evidence from mathematics classrooms shows that teachers are still facing challenges in designing mathematical tasks on problem solving for classroom instruction. Despite the effort of several existing research studies on enacting problem solving in the mathematics classroom, the guiding principles for designing problem solving tasks remain largely unexplored, thus teachers are left without being empowered to design their own problem solving tasks. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive framework on designing problem solving tasks through a list of interrelated guiding principles. The proposed framework, which we name MIRACLE, foreground seven key considerations which mathematics educators should take into consideration when designing a task for a problem solving lesson: Mathematical content, method of Instruction, Required knowledge, Assessment, Complexity of problem, Learner’s profile, and Enactment of lesson. This paper also provides two exemplars on how the framework could be used to design mathematical tasks for problem solving through problem solving

협력적 문제해결 과제의 지시문 유형에 따른 팀 활동 내 언어적 상호작용, 성취도 및 만족도 분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of worksheet question prompts (facilitating conceptual knowledge vs. facilitating procedural knowledge) in collaborative problem-solving tasks on team’s verbal interaction, academic achievement, and class satisfaction.
 Methods 53 female undergraduates from universities in the metro area participated in the experiment. For data analysis, opinion mining based on KOSAC and keyword analysis were applied on the transcripts of team activities and group interviews. Criteria for analyzing verbal interactions were divided into polarity (positive, negative, neutral, complex) and types (agreement, argument, judgment, intention, emotion, speculation, and others). In addition, t-test was conducted to compare the mean differences in verbal interaction and academic achievement by group.
 Results Regarding the verbal interaction, the frequency of using positive expressions was significantly higher in the experimental group using the worksheet for facilitating procedural knowledge(p<.05). However, in terms of academic achievement, the mean difference between groups was not significant for both the pre- and post-scores(p>.05). As the result of keyword analysis on class satisfaction, the top keywords in the experimental group were ‘problem’, ‘lecture’, ‘data’, ‘understanding’, and ‘realistic’, whereas the top keywords in the control group were ‘lecture’, ‘content’, ‘task’, ‘problem’, and ‘application’.
 Conclusions These findings imply the necessity for ongoing attention to the study of behavioral data generated during the learning process as well as the development of various worksheets to facilitate active interaction among learners.

Sleep and cognition in aging dogs. A polysomnographic study.

Sleep is fundamental for cognitive homeostasis, especially in senior populations since clearance of amyloid beta (key in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease) occurs during sleep. Some electroencephalographic characteristics of sleep and wakefulness have been considered a hallmark of dementia. Owners of dogs with canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (a canine analog to Alzheimer's disease) report that their dogs suffer from difficulty sleeping. The aim of this study was to quantify age-related changes in the sleep-wakefulness cycle macrostructure and electroencephalographic features in senior dogs and to correlate them with their cognitive performance. We performed polysomnographic recordings in 28 senior dogs during a 2 h afternoon nap. Percentage of time spent in wakefulness, drowsiness, NREM, and REM sleep, as well as latency to the three sleep states were calculated. Spectral power, coherence, and Lempel Ziv Complexity of the brain oscillations were estimated. Finally, cognitive performance was evaluated by means of the Canine Dementia Scale Questionnaire and a battery of cognitive tests. Correlations between age, cognitive performance and sleep-wakefulness cycle macrostructure and electroencephalographic features were calculated. Dogs with higher dementia scores and with worse performance in a problem-solving task spent less time in NREM and REM sleep. Additionally, quantitative electroencephalographic analyses showed differences in dogs associated with age or cognitive performance, some of them reflecting shallower sleep in more affected dogs. Polysomnographic recordings in dogs can detect sleep-wakefulness cycle changes associated with dementia. Further studies should evaluate polysomnography's potential clinical use to monitor the progression of canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome.

Development of undergraduate employability skills through authentic assessment in college-based higher education.

This paper explores how authentic assessment can be implemented to enhance opportunities to develop employability skills through problem-solving tasks. Based on the eight key tenets of authentic assessment (Ashford-Rowe, Herrington and Brown, 2014), this paper presents formative and summative assessment case studies which were created in partnership with external stakeholders on three separate degree programmes at an undergraduate college-based higher education provider. The case studies report on the development of employability skills through authentic learning design on courses ranging from level 4 to level 6 of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications. The cases add weight to the argument for embedding employability within the curriculum wherein the core skills/intended outcomes are delivered as part of the taught curriculum rather than as paralleled approaches which aim to develop employability as an add-on. Each of the case studies are individually distinct, however they each share commonalities that collectively produce an effective framework for authentic assessment design. These key components include effective collaboration with external stakeholders (employers) from within the respective sectors, the joint formulation of a ‘problem’ that allows students to apply real world skillsets to overcome, and lastly the opportunity for external stakeholders to contribute towards feedback that students receive in respect to the assessment carried out. Learning developers in higher education should look to utilise the conclusions of this paper to inform learning design in their contexts.

Learning and Assessment of HOTS among Senior High School Economics Students

In today's world, where globalization is rapidly increasing, critical thinking, rationality, and tolerance are essential for personal and interpersonal well-being. The study aims to analyze the impact of teaching methods, self-concept, and assessment on students' higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in economics in senior high school (SHS). The research subjects involved 220 economics students from three SHS. The study used a quantitative survey method with the use of a designed questionnaire and used ordinal logistic regression to find the correlations between variables. The findings suggest that teaching methods, self-concepts, and assessment have a significant impact on students' understanding of economics subjects by promoting higher-order thinking skills. To improve Ghana's educational system and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, the study also underlines the necessity of HOTS-oriented assessment in classroom instruction. Therefore, the study recommends the use of various instructional strategies, such as open-ended questions and practical problem-solving tasks that encourage students to manipulate unfamiliar or novel situations, rather than relying on recall or restatement of previously taught material. The implication of this study is that curriculum developers should take into consideration a well-structured question in the curriculum that will elicit students' high-order thinking skills.

The Correlation Between Metacognitive and Problem Solving Skills among Science Students

This study aims to investigate the correlation between metacognitive and problem-solving skills among science students. The sample consisted of 32 students from departement of science education in Indonesia. This type of research is quantitative with the Pearson Product Moment Correlation method. The data were collected using a problem-solving test and a metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI). Technique of analyzing data uses the Pearson’correlation test by using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Result of this research is there is a significant linear relationship between metacognitive and problem solving skills as the value of deviation from linearity is 0.225, which is greater than 0.05. The obtained Pearson correlation value of 0.382* also indicates a strong positive correlation (+0.382*) and a significant correlation (0.031<0.05) between the two variables. As a conclussion, there is a correlation between metacognitive and problem solving skills among science students. Further analysis revealed that students with higher metacognitive skills tended to perform better in problem-solving tasks, indicating the importance of metacognitive skills in science problem-solving. These findings suggest that promoting metacognitive awareness could enhance students' problem-solving abilities, and support the integration of metacognitive strategies in science education. These findings highlight the importance of promoting metacognitive awareness in learning process to enhance problem-solving skills by using innovative learning strategies.

Cognitive performance is linked to survival in free-living African striped mice.

Cognition is shaped by evolution and is predicted to increase fitness. However, the link between cognition and fitness in free-living animals is unresolved. We studied the correlates of cognition and survival in a free-living rodent inhabiting an arid environment. We tested 143 striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) using a battery of cognitive tests, including: (i) an attention task, (ii) two problem-solving tasks, (iii) a learning and reversal learning task, and (iv) an inhibitory control task. We related cognitive performance with days of survival. Better problem-solving and inhibitory control performance were significant correlates of survival. Surviving males showed greater reversal learning which may be related to sex-specific behavioural and life-history characteristics. Specific cognitive traits and not a composite measure of general intelligence underpins fitness in this free-living rodent population, enhancing our understanding of the evolution of cognition in non-human animals.

A case study of interdisciplinary thematic learning curriculum to cultivate "4C skills".

Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are four fundamental skills for students in the 21st century, indicating the way for nurturing talents required for future social development. Interdisciplinary thematic learning has become an important educational carrier for "4C Skills" training, with its connotation coinciding with the training requirements of "4C Skills." Few academics, however, have looked into interdisciplinary thematic learning activities based on real-world problems. In this study, using a middle school in Xiamen, Fujian Province as an example, 32 s-year students in middle school were given several problem-solving tasks relevant to "visual disaster weather." Based on test coding and questionnaire evaluation, class notes, course videos, student solutions, and interview texts, we examined the development of students' 4C skills through real-world problem-based interdisciplinary thematic learning activities. This study discovered that an interdisciplinary thematic learning environment centered on real-world challenges fosters students' creative thinking in open practice while also encouraging group communication and collaboration. Students also gain critical thinking skills through questioning and critique.

TDCS Anodal Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Improves Creative Performance in Real-World Problem Solving

Brain regions associated with creativity is a focal point in research related to the field of cognitive neuroscience. Previous studies have paid more attention to the role of activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in creativity tasks, which are mostly abstract conceptual tasks, and less attention to real-world creativity tasks. The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in functions such as visuospatial processing, which may have a positive impact on innovative solutions to real-world problems. In this study, tDCS technology was used to explore the effect of anodal stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on design creativity performance in a real-word problem-solving task related to product design. The experimental task comprised three stages, of which the first two were idea generation stages based on divergent thinking using text and graphics, respectively, whereas the third was the creative evaluation stage based on convergent thinking. Thirty-six design students were recruited to partake in the experiment. They were randomly assigned into anodal stimulation and sham stimulation groups. The results showed that anodal stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex produced a significant positive effect during the creative evaluation stage, promoting the usefulness of ideas (p = 0.009); thus, improving product creativity scores. However, there was no significant impact on the idea generation stage (p > 0.05), which is dominated by divergent thinking. The results suggest that activating the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with tDCS can improve people's performance in creative activities by promoting convergent thinking rather than divergent thinking. It also provides further evidence that the right hemisphere of the brain has an advantage in solving complex problems that require the participation of visuospatial information.

Evaluation of Stress Response in Middle-Aged Male Diabetic Hypertensive Patients.

Stress triggers a cascade of reactions that alter the organism's dynamic steady state. There is a scarcity of interventional studies that show cortisol variability upon stress over time in groups of patients with chronic noncommunicable diseases and comorbidities. We aimed to examine salivary cortisol changes in the cognitive stress response of patients with hypertension and diabetes mellitus (HT&DM) and patients with hypertension (HT) and to determine differences between them. The study was conducted using a stress test of solving an arithmetic task in 62 patients with HT&DM and HT who were being treated in the outpatient clinic of the Medical Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology Department in Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty Hospital. There was no statistically significant difference between the HT&DM and HT groups for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values (P = .331 and P = .058). When measured by repeated ANOVA, salivary cortisol level [F (1.842, 60) = 8.771, P < .0001], SBP [F (2.185, 60) = 12.080, P < .0001], DBP [F (2.793, 60) = 6.043, P = .001], and heart rate [F (2.073, 60) = 13.259, P < .0001] were statistically significant for the main effect (time), while the effect of the group × time interaction factor was statistically not significant (P = .773; P = .751; P = .713 and P = .506, respectively). The arithmetic problem-solving task used with the HT&DM and HT patients was useful as an acute stress test in the laboratory environment. There was no statistically significant difference for group × time interaction factor between the HT&DM and HT groups; however, the salivary cortisol and BP values increased significantly after acute stress within each group.

Addressing an Unfulfilled Expectation: Teaching Students With Disabilities to Write Scientific Arguments

Students with disabilities (SWD) in general education science classes are expected to engage in the scientific practices and potentially in the writing of arguments drawn from evidence. Currently, however, there are few research-based instructional approaches for teaching argument writing for these students. The present article responds to this need through the application of an instructional model that promises to improve the ability of SWDs to write scientific arguments. We approach this work in multiple ways. First, we clarify our target group, students with high incidence disabilities (learning disability, ADHD, and students with speech and language impairments), and discuss common cognitive challenges they experience. We then explore the role of argumentation in science, review research on both experts’ (scientists’) and novices’ (students’) argument writing and highlight successful cognitive strategies for teaching argument writing with neurotypical learners. We further discuss SWDs’ general writing challenges and how researchers have improved their abilities to comprehend and evaluate scientific information and improve their domain-general writing. Cognitive apprenticeships appear advantageous for teaching SWDs science content and how to write scientific arguments, as this form of instruction begins with problem solving tasks that connect literacy (e.g., reading, writing, argumentation discourse) with epistemic reasoning in a given domain. We illustrate the potential of such apprenticeships by analyzing the conceptual quality of arguments written by three SWDs who participated in a larger quantitative study in which they and others showed improvement in the structure of their arguments. We end with suggestions for further research to expand the use of cognitive apprenticeships.

Clear speech adaptations and effortful speaking and listening in background noise across the lifespan

Our study investigates strategies speakers use to clarify their speech and compensate for the impact of background noise in everyday settings. We recorded 114 individuals (8-80 years) while they carried out an interactive problem-solving task (diapix) in quiet, background speech and background non-speech noise. A secondary bell-press task was added to increase cognitive load. We measured (i) articulation rate, median fundamental frequency (f0) and intensity which reflect clear speech adaptations and speaking effort; (ii) subjective ratings of listening effort; and iii) secondary task performance reflecting distractibility (d-prime). Regardless of age, speakers increased their f0 and intensity more in non-speech noise than in quiet or background speech. However, they made more errors in the secondary task and reported greater listening effort when the background noise was speech. Older participants (&amp;gt;50 years) increased speaking effort in both noise types, but younger children (&amp;lt;13 years) increased speaking effort only in background speech. These results indicate that, in terms of speaking effort, background speech (more cognitively demanding) is effortful for children and older adults. However, background noise (more peripheral interference) is mostly effortful for older adults. In terms of listening effort and distractibility, we observed greater interference in background speech regardless of participant age.

EEG-Based Focus of Attention Tracking and Regulation During Dual-Task Training for Neural Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients.

Dual-task training under variable-priority instructions (DT-VP), during which subjects are required to vary their focus of attention (FOA) between two concurrent tasks, has shown a more significant improvement in neural rehabilitation than that under fixed-priority instructions. Failed FOA switching not only diminishes the recovery benefits, but also causes anxieties, which is detrimental to rehabilitation. Developing a strategy for tracking and regulating patients' FOA to achieve a better performance in task priority-following during DT-VP is thus imperative. In this study, fifteen stroke patients participated in DT-VP that comprised two tasks: a mathematical problem-solving task and a cycling task, during which their electroencephalograms were recorded simultaneously. The significantly differentiated power spectra of four brain regions extracted from single-task training were fed into a support vector machine to build a FOA tracking algorithm for patients' attention assessment during the DT-VP. Moreover, dual-task difficulty adaptation method was designed to regulate patients' FOA when their FOA and the high-priority task were not coincident. The comparison experimental results showed that the proposed method significantly improved patients' FOA distributed on the high-priority task (analysis of variance, 0.05). Meanwhile, the absolute power spectral densities of the motor cortex and the frontal region could also be improved during DT-VP under high motor and cognitive task priority instructions, respectively. These phenomena demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed method in helping stroke patients better implement FOA switching and maintenance.

A Qualitative Microanalysis of the Immediate Behavioural Effects of Mindfulness Practices on Students’ Self-Regulation and Attention

The study examined the immediate effects of mindfulness practices on students’ attention and self-regulation during mathematical problem-solving tasks. Participants were 15 4th-grade Finnish students and their teacher. Data were collected during six study sessions of mathematical problem-solving, with and without mindfulness practices. The sessions were video-recorded, and children responded to the Freiburg mindfulness inventory and the cognitive and affective mindfulness scale-revised. A qualitative video micro-analysis focused on coding the observable behaviours related to attention and self-regulation. Self-report instruments were scored and tabulated for comparison. The findings indicate microbehavioural changes indicating positive effects of mindfulness practices on students’ self-regulation, with higher signs of engagement and lower signs of disengagement after mindfulness practices. This study enlightens the use of mindfulness practices in school routines and discusses the impacts of these practices while evidencing that future research on the topic is needed.

Expressing appreciation is linked to interpersonal closeness and inter-brain coherence, both in person and over Zoom.

Expressing appreciation is essential for establishing interpersonal closeness, but virtual interactions are increasingly common and create social distance. Little is known about the neural and inter-brain correlates of expressing appreciation and the potential effects of virtual videoconferencing on this kind of interaction. Here, we assess inter-brain coherence with functional near-infrared spectroscopy while dyads expressed appreciation to one another. We scanned 36 dyads (72 participants) who interacted in either an in-person or virtual (Zoom®) condition. Participants reported on their subjective experience of interpersonal closeness. As predicted, expressing appreciation increased interpersonal closeness between dyad partners. Relative to 3 other cooperation tasks (i.e. problem-solving task, creative-innovation task, socio-emotional task), we observed increased inter-brain coherence in socio-cognitive areas of the cortex (anterior frontopolar area, inferior frontal gyrus, premotor cortex, middle temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and visual association cortex) during the appreciation task. Increased inter-brain coherence in socio-cognitive areas during the appreciation task was associated with increased interpersonal closeness. These findings support the perspective that expressing appreciation, both in-person and virtually, increases subjective and neural metrics of interpersonal closeness.

Effectiveness of invention tasks and explicit instruction in preparing intellectually gifted adolescents for learning

Solving a novel problem has recently garnered some attention as a viable alternative to traditional explicit instruction in the preparation of students for learning. This study investigated the effectiveness of introducing problem-solving tasks and worked examples prior to explicit instruction, along with the use of contrast, for gifted and non-gifted adolescents. One hundred and ninety-nine students from academically selective government and Independent high schools participated in this study. The 2 × 2 × 2 research design that was used examined the effects of giftedness (i.e., gifted vs. non-gifted), instruction-type (i.e., problem-solving vs. worked examples), and structure (i.e., high vs low contrast materials) on the learning outcomes of transfer and procedural knowledge. The study also examined the impact of explicit instruction and invention-first instruction strategies on non-performance variables—self-efficacy, extraneous load, experience of knowledge gaps, and interest. The results of the study suggested that invention-first instruction may be more effective than example-first instruction in transfer, and that gifted students may benefit more from invention-first instruction than example-first instruction. The use of contrast materials was not found to affect performance. Furthermore, instruction was found to have no significant effects on the investigated non-performance variables. Collectively, these findings challenge the conventional teaching modality of explicit instruction in gifted education, and puts forward the possibility of the invention-first strategy as an effective instructional strategy for gifted students.

Two-in-one system and behavior-specific brain synchrony during goal-free cooperative creation: an analytical approach combining automated behavioral classification and the event-related generalized linear model.

In hyperscanning studies of natural social interactions, behavioral coding is usually necessary to extract brain synchronizations specific to a particular behavior. The more natural the task is, the heavier the coding effort is. We propose an analytical approach to resolve this dilemma, providing insights and avenues for future work in interactive social neuroscience. The objective is to solve the laborious coding problem for naturalistic hyperscanning by proposing a convenient analytical approach and to uncover brain synchronization mechanisms related to human cooperative behavior when the ultimate goal is highly free and creative. This functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning study challenged a cooperative goal-free creative game in which dyads can communicate freely without time constraints and developed an analytical approach that combines automated behavior classification (computer vision) with a generalized linear model (GLM) in an event-related manner. Thirty-nine dyads participated in this study. Conventional wavelet-transformed coherence (WTC) analysis showed that joint play induced robust between-brain synchronization (BBS) among the hub-like superior and middle temporal regions and the frontopolar and dorsomedial/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the right hemisphere, in contrast to sparse within-brain synchronization (WBS). Contrarily, similar regions within a single brain showed strong WBS with similar connection patterns during independent play. These findings indicate a two-in-one system for performing creative problem-solving tasks. Further, WTC-GLM analysis combined with computer vision successfully extracted BBS, which was specific to the events when one of the participants raised his/her face to the other. This brain-to-brain synchrony between the right dorsolateral PFC and the right temporo-parietal junction suggests joint functioning of these areas when mentalization is necessary under situations with restricted social signals. Our proposed analytical approach combining computer vision and WTC-GLM can be applied to extract inter-brain synchrony associated with social behaviors of interest.

Frontal effective connectivity increases with task demands and time on task: a Dynamic Causal Model of electrocorticogram in macaque monkeys

We apply Dynamic Causal Models to electrocorticogram recordings from two macaque monkeys performing a problem-solving task that engages working memory, and induces time-on-task effects. We thus provide a computational account of changes in effective connectivity within two regions of the fronto-parietal network, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the pre-supplementary motor area. We find that forward connections between the two regions increased in strength when task demands increased, and as the experimental session progressed. Similarities in the effects of task demands and time on task allow us to interpret changes in frontal connectivity in terms of increased attentional effort allocation that compensates cognitive fatigue.

Letting leaders spontaneously emerge yields better creative outcomes and higher leader-follower interbrain synchrony during creative group communication.

This study aimed to investigate how the ways leaders arise (appointed vs. emergent) affect the leader-follower interaction during creative group communication. Hyperscanning technique was adopted to reveal the underlying interpersonal neural correlates using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants were assigned into 3-person groups to complete a creative problem-solving task. These groups were randomly split into conditions of appointed (condition A) and emergent (condition E) leaders. Creative group outcomes were better in condition E, accompanied by more frequent perspective-taking behaviors between leaders and followers. The interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) increment for leader-follower pairs was significantly higher at the right angular gyrus (rAG), between the rAG and the right supramarginal gyrus (rSMG), and between the right middle temporal gyrus and the right motor cortex in condition E and positively correlated with perspective-taking behaviors between leaders and followers. The graph-based analysis showed higher nodal betweenness of the rAG and the rSMG in condition E. These results indicated the neural coupling of brain regions involved in mentalizing, semantic processing and motor imagery may underlie the dynamic information transmission between leaders and followers during creative group communication.