Modification of Problem-Solving Strategies

1968 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marguerite L. Young

Three procedures for improving problem-solving performance by modifying search strategies were investigated. These were: (a) unaided experience, (b) experience plus exposure to strategies described only as a procedural change, and (c) experience plus exposure to strategies that were explicitly described as solution strategies. 10 Ss were tested under each condition on a series of 3-element conjunctive problems monitored by an automatic programming machine called HEPP. It was found that procedure (a), unaided experience, was the least effective technique for developing efficient search strategies. When problems of increased uncertainty were presented to Ss tested under this condition, the group showed a significant loss in problem-solving efficiency. Ss tested under procedure (b) also showed a loss in efficiency on the transfer task although the loss was not as great as that shown by Ss tested under procedure (a). The most effective method for modifying search strategies was procedure (c). Ss in this group changed to a more efficient strategy and were able to use the strategy to solve problems of increased uncertainty with almost no loss in efficiency of performance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER ACHTEN

Abstract Elliot Soloway’s Rainfall problem is a well-known and well-studied problem to investigate the problem-solving strategies of programmers. Kathi Fisler investigated this programming challenge from the point of view of functional programmers. She showed that this particular challenge gives rise to five different high-level solution strategies, of which three are predominant and cover over 80% of all chosen solutions. In this study, we put forward the Segments problem as an alternative challenge to investigate the problem-solving skills of functional programmers. Analysis of the student solutions, their high-level solution strategies, and corresponding archetype solutions shows that the Segments problem gives rise to seven different high-level solution strategies that can be further divided into 17 subclasses. The Segments problem is particularly suited to investigate problem-solving skills that involve list processing and higher-order functions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle S. Robert

This article reports on an exploratory follow-up study on the use of problem-solving strategies of professional revisers, and in particular the use of ‘rereading,’ ‘reflection-reformulation,’ and ‘search’ problem-solving strategies. The study focuses on the frequency of these strategies, on the effect of the revision procedure on the use of these strategies, and on the relationship between the use of these strategies and revision quality and duration. Results based on Think Aloud Protocols (TAPs) and keystroke logging data show that the reflection-reformulation and the search strategies are the most frequent. It seems that the more revisers use the reflection-reformulation strategy, whether alone or in combination with another strategy, the better they revise, but the longer they work. Results also show that the type of revision procedure employed does not seem to have any effect on the use of problem-solving strategies.


Author(s):  
J. Navaneetha Krishnan ◽  
P. Paul Devanesan

The major aim of teaching Mathematics is to develop problem solving skill among the students. This article aims to find out the problem solving strategies and to test the students’ ability in using these strategies to solve problems. Using sample survey method, four hundred students were taken for this investigation. Students’ achievement in solving problems was tested for their Identification and Application of Problem Solving Strategies as a major finding, thirty one percent of the students’ achievement in mathematics is contributed by Identification and Application of Problem Solving Strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Jiang ◽  
Tao Gong ◽  
Luis E. Saldivia ◽  
Gabrielle Cayton-Hodges ◽  
Christopher Agard

AbstractIn 2017, the mathematics assessments that are part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program underwent a transformation shifting the administration from paper-and-pencil formats to digitally-based assessments (DBA). This shift introduced new interactive item types that bring rich process data and tremendous opportunities to study the cognitive and behavioral processes that underlie test-takers’ performances in ways that are not otherwise possible with the response data alone. In this exploratory study, we investigated the problem-solving processes and strategies applied by the nation’s fourth and eighth graders by analyzing the process data collected during their interactions with two technology-enhanced drag-and-drop items (one item for each grade) included in the first digital operational administration of the NAEP’s mathematics assessments. Results from this research revealed how test-takers who achieved different levels of accuracy on the items engaged in various cognitive and metacognitive processes (e.g., in terms of their time allocation, answer change behaviors, and problem-solving strategies), providing insights into the common mathematical misconceptions that fourth- and eighth-grade students held and the steps where they may have struggled during their solution process. Implications of the findings for educational assessment design and limitations of this research are also discussed.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 793
Author(s):  
Manuel Santos-Trigo ◽  
Fernando Barrera-Mora ◽  
Matías Camacho-Machín

This study aims to document the extent to which the use of digital technology enhances and extends high school teachers’ problem-solving strategies when framing their teaching scenarios. The participants systematically relied on online developments such as Wikipedia to contextualize problem statements or to review involved concepts. Likewise, they activated GeoGebra’s affordances to construct and explore dynamic models of tasks. The Apollonius problem is used to illustrate and discuss how the participants contextualized the task and relied on technology affordances to construct and explore problems’ dynamic models. As a result, they exhibited and extended the domain of several problem-solving strategies including the use of simpler cases, dragging orderly objects, measuring objects attributes, and finding loci of some objects that shaped their approached to reasoning and solve problems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson Pasini Mairing

Solving problem is not only a goal of mathematical learning. Students acquire ways of thinking, habits of persistence and curiosity, and confidence in unfamiliar situations by learning to solve problems. In fact, there were students who had difficulty in solving problems. The students were naive problem solvers. This research aimed to describe the thinking process of naive problem solvers based on heuristic of Polya. The researcher gave two problems to students at grade XI from one of high schools in Palangka Raya, Indonesia. The research subjects were two students with problem solving scores of 0 or 1 for both problems (naive problem solvers). The score was determined by using a holistic rubric with maximum score of 4. Each subject was interviewed by the researcher separately based on the subject’s solution. The results showed that the naive problem solvers read the problems for several times in order to understand them. The naive problem solvers could determine the known and the unknown if they were written in the problems. However, they faced difficulties when the information in the problems should be processed in their mindsto construct a mental image. The naive problem solvers were also failed to make an appropriate plan because they did not have a problem solving schema. The schema was constructed by the understanding of the problems, conceptual and procedural knowledge of the relevant concepts, knowledge of problem solving strategies, and previous experiences in solving isomorphic problems.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document