scholarly journals A Diagnostic Classification Analysis of Problem-Solving Competence using Process Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peida Zhan ◽  
Xin Qiao

Process data refers to data recorded by computer-based assessments (CBA) that reflect respondents’ problem-solving processes and provide greater insight into how students solve problems, instead of merely how well they solve them. Using the rich information contained in process data, this study proposed an item-specific psychometric method for analyzing process data in order to comprehensively understand respondents’ problem-solving competence. By incorporating diagnostic classification into process data analysis, the proposed method cannot only estimate respondents’ problem-solving ability along a continuum, but can also classify respondents according to their problem-solving strategies. To illustrate the application and advantages of the proposed method, a Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) problem-solving task was used. The results indicated that (a) the estimated latent classes provided more detailed diagnoses of respondents’ problem-solving strategies than the observed score classes; (b) although only one item was used, estimated higher-order latent ability reflected the respondents’ problem-solving ability more accurately than the estimated unidimensional latent ability taken from the outcome data; and (c) the interactions between problem-solving skills may follow the conjunctive condensation rule, which assumes that only when a respondent has mastered all the required problem-solving skills can the specific action sequence appear. Overall, the main conclusion drawn from this study was that using diagnostic classification is a feasible and promising method for analyzing process data.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-157
Author(s):  
Gabriella Kovács ◽  
Katalin Harangus

AbstractLinguistic and cultural mediators, such as translators, interpreters, and language teachers, need complex and well-developed language skills in all the languages they work with. In this study, we examine the connections and correlations among the following skills: reading literacy in native language, reading literacy in foreign language, problem solving and translation. Three of these skills (reading in native and foreign language and problem solving) are evaluated on a three-level scale based on the three cognitive processes used in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments (location of information, understanding, evaluation and reflection) (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – OECD 2018). The methodology of measuring reading comprehension in native language and problem-solving skills has already been developed and applied by our research group (Pletl 2019, Harangus 2018); therefore, after assessing the foreign language reading literacy and translation skills, we will be able to analyse the translator trainees’ results based on the aforementioned three-level scale and examine possible connections and correlations between the different but interrelated skills. With an interdisciplinary approach, this study concentrates on revealing the overlaps and meeting points, the spaces in between the use of these skills.


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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Hernández-Serrano ◽  
José P. Espada ◽  
Alejandro Guillén-Riquelme

<p>The objectives of the present study are the following ones: 1) to study the use of drugs, the prosocial behaviour and the problem-solving skills with respect to age and gender, and 2) to analyze the association of both the prosocial behaviour and the problem-solving skills with the use of drugs. An exploratory cross-sectional study was performed, amongst a sample of 567 students in Spanish Compulsory Secondary Education (48.14% males) with an age range from 14 to 17 years (<em>M </em>= 14.92; <em>SD </em>= 0.90). Statistically significant differences were found concerning alcohol use and the prosocial behaviour with respect to gender, as well as concerning alcohol and cannabis use with respect to age. Logistic regression analyses revealed statistical significance of the prosocial behaviour with respect to the use of alcohol and cannabis. The ability in problem-solving was the most important protective predictor with respect to the abuse of cannabis. The results from this study enhance the importance of tailored interventions based on the promotion of prosocial behaviours and/or problem-solving strategies as fundamental protective factors for substance use amongst adolescents.</p>


1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-44
Author(s):  
Glenda Lappan ◽  
Elizabeth Phillips ◽  
M. J. Winter

With the publication of An Agenda for Action: Recommendations for School Mathematics of the 1980s, the NCTM has emphasized its support for helping students to develop and use problem-solving skills. The challenge for the teacher is to provide opportunities for the development of the e skill while teaching mathematical concept that comprise the basic curriculum. With the wide-spread availability of calculators, teachers have a tool that can be used to expand the study of many basic mathematical idea to include the development of problem-solving strategies. Calculations that would be so time consuming as to be impractical if they were done with paper and pencil, can be quickly done with a calculator.


1998 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Gersten ◽  
Scott Baker

This article presents a conceptual framework for refining instruction in science for students with disabilities. We review the concept of situated cognition as a way to address difficulties students have in retention and generalization, a perennial issue in special education. If a goal for students is real world use of problem-solving strategies, students must have opportunities for contextual learning. The proposed framework suggests that integration of explicit instruction in critical concepts, with cognitively based approaches that emphasize problem-solving skills on real world tasks may allow students with disabilities to be successful The implications this framework has in terms of policy, professional development, and the creation of learning environments that promote retention and transfer are discussed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-33
Author(s):  
SUSAN KANOWITH-KLEIN ◽  
MEL STAVE ◽  
RON STEVENS ◽  
ADRIAN M. CASILLAS

Educators emphasize the importance of problem solving that enables students to apply current knowledge and understanding in new ways to previously unencountered situations. Yet few methods are available to visualize and then assess such skills in a rapid and efficient way. Using a software system that can generate a picture (i.e., map) of students’ strategies in solving problems, we investigated methods to classify problem-solving strategies of high school students who were studying infectious and noninfectious diseases. Using maps that indicated items students accessed to solve a software simulation as well as the sequence in which items were accessed, we developed a rubric to score the quality of the student performances and also applied artificial neural network technology to cluster student performances into groups of related strategies. Furthermore, we established that a relationship existed between the rubric and neural network results, suggesting that the quality of a problem-solving strategy could be predicted from the cluster of performances in which it was assigned by the network. Using artificial neural networks to assess students’ problem-solving strategies has the potential to permit the investigation of the problem-solving performances of hundreds of students at a time and provide teachers with a valuable intervention tool capable of identifying content areas in which students have specific misunderstandings, gaps in learning, or misconceptions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Ernest Ampadu

Most students experience different levels of difficulties in learning mathematics. TIMSS results have shown that most students in Ghana do not perform well in higher level tasks designed to assess applications and non-routine problems. This study, therefore, aimed at examining Ghanaian Junior and Senior High School mathematics teachers problem-solving strategies and their professional development needs about problem-solving. 114 mathematics teachers from 28 Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) in the Cape Coast Metropolis took part in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results from the study show that although teachers appreciate the importance of problem-solving in improving mathematics teaching and learning, there has not been the needed problem-solving training to support teachers in this regard. The researcher, therefore, argue that despite the numerous advantages associated with problem-solving strategy of teaching and learning, continuous professional development training for teachers should be paramount in our quest for helping students develop problem solving skills. Ghanaian JHS and SHS students can be in a disadvantageous position as they compete with their peers from other countries in international comparison examinations if our teachers are not given the needed support to become proficient in the use of problem-solving strategies in the classrooms.


Author(s):  
Rafael Cabezuelo Vivo ◽  
Víctor Pavón

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent the use of L2 in math tests influences bilingual education learners’ process of word problem solving in a mandatory secondary education school with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). The reading comprehension level of the students was analysed using a standards-based assessment and the questions used in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. The word problems were selected according to the students’ level of reading-comprehension and mathematical competence. Leaners also had to answer a questionnaire, which was used to analyse if contextual factors were affecting mathematical performance in L2. To this end, the questionnaire included some questions related to the bilingual history of the students and their perception about solving word problems in English. Data were analysed through one-way or two-way ANOVA tests to find out which factors were relevant. Results show that solving word problems is not only affected by the use of L2, but that it also depends on the mathematical difficulty, irrespective of the students’ level of language proficiency. The findings, hence, imply that interaction between linguistic difficulty and mathematical complexity is at the centre of the issues affecting word problem solving.


Author(s):  
Yogi Anggraena

The Trending topic in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have become a new standard for mathematics learning. One of the objectives of the study from TIMSS and PISA is to know the students' abilities in reasoning, identifying, and understanding, and using the basic mathematics needed in daily life. Or in other words, students must have mathematical literacy. The concept of mathematical literacy is intended the ability of individuals to formulate, use, and interpret mathematics in various contexts. This includes mathematical reasoning and using mathematical concepts, procedures, facts, and equipment to describe, explain, and predict phenomena or events (OECD, 2013). Indonesia has participated in TIMSS and PISA studies several times, from the TIMSS and PISA study results, it shows that students have not been able to develop optimally about their thinking abilities in mathematics schools and are still low in ability (1) to understand complex information, (2) theory , analysis and problem solving, (3) using tools, procedures and problem solving and (4) conducting investigations. In 2014, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) stated that learning mathematics today is still too formal, lacks connection with the meaning, understanding, and application of mathematical concepts, and fails to give sufficient attention to the ability of reasoning and solving problem. These results indicate that there needs to be a change in curriculum orientation, which is not to burden students with content but prioritize the aspects of essential abilities needed by all citizens to participate in developing their country in the 21st century. Therefore it is necessary to develop a mathematics curriculum that enhances students' abilities in reasoning and problem solving in order to improve the quality of mathematics for students knowledge and skill in this global era.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document