scholarly journals Metacognition, systems thinking, and problem-solving ability in school-based agriculture, food, and natural resources education

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-47
Author(s):  
Aaron McKim ◽  
Robert McKendree

Problems within agriculture, food, and natural resource (AFNR) systems are increasingly complex, expanding the need for students to develop problem-solving abilities alongside an understanding of their own thinking. In this effort, we explored the problem-solving abilities, metacognition, and systems thinking of current AFNR secondary school students. A descriptive correlational study design was employed. Data were collected via an online, Qualtrics survey. Student responses on the metacognition, systems thinking, and problem-solving ability survey items suggested opportunities for increased focus on these areas throughout their educational experience. In addition, statistically significant relationships between metacognition and systems thinking and systems thinking and problem-solving ability reinforced the importance of these topics within AFNR Education. Recommendations emerging from this work include additional emphasis on metacognition, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills within secondary school AFNR classrooms; utilization of specific strategies to increase systems thinking; operationalizing specific strategies to increase metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation; along with a cross-cutting recommendation for teachers to make their thinking more explicit during instruction to increase metacognition, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills among learners.

Author(s):  
Amal Abdullah Abdulrhman Alkhudair, Alaa Abdulaziz Abdulrhma Amal Abdullah Abdulrhman Alkhudair, Alaa Abdulaziz Abdulrhma

The aim of the research is to determine the effectiveness of a proposed unit based on future problem- solving skills in developing the decision- making skills of government secondary school students in Riyadh. Using the descriptive and experimental approach, the tool was to test decision- making skills. Teacher manual; For the Occupational Problems Unit in the Work Environment. They were applied to a multi- stage randomized manner of 63 female students of the third year of secondary school, which was divided into: a control group that the occupational problems unit is taught in the work environment in the traditional way, and an experimental group that is taught using the occupational problems unit in the work environment based on problem- solving skills Future. The research found the effectiveness of the occupational problems unit in the work environment based on future problem- solving skills in developing decision- making skills as a whole. Where the experimental got a total mean (28.77 of 32) in contrast to the control obtaining a total mean (13.05 of 32) and the difference in favor of the experimental group, and the presence of statistically significant differences at a significance level (0.05) between the mean scores of the two groups, the experimental and the control in The post- test in decision- making skills as a whole in the vocational education course and the ETA square factor to measure the size of the effect was (0.97), and confirms that the size of the effect is (large), and the adjusted gain rate for Blake is (1.32), and reflects the great effectiveness of the proposed unit: the researcher recommends directing the curriculum officials in the Ministry of Education to take care of the development of future problem solving skills through the curriculum for their effectiveness in helping students to make decisions and benefiting from the flexibility of the vocational education curriculum in achieving future goals that help students identify their paths Professional.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-230
Author(s):  
Erkan Çalişkan

Robotics programming is a type of coding that combines mechanics and programming. Robotics technology facilitates coding instruction. Coding improves students' problem-solving skills. However, studies from the literature show that some teaching methods do not have a positive effect on coding skills. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of robotics programming training on secondary school students’ problem-solving skills. For this purpose, the study was conducted as a pretest - posttest quasi-experimental model without control group. 30 6th grade students (12 boys and 18 girls) from three secondary schools participated in this study. Activities were conducted with the VEX IQ Robot Kit during nine weeks. Before and after the process, problem-solving inventory and problem-solving skills perception scale were applied as pre- and post-test. As the scores obtained from the scales did not show a normal distribution, the difference between the pretest and posttest scale scores was examined by Wilcoxon signed rank test. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that robotics programming helped students to develop problem-solving skills.


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