Inverting the Remedial Mathematics Classroom with Alternative Assessment

2011 ◽  
pp. 205-212
Author(s):  
Victor W. Brunsden
Keyword(s):  
College Student ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Alternative Assessment ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Remedial Mathematics ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Problem Types ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Lecture Format

The author present a case-study of a classroom technique that allows assessment and some remediation of several shortcomings of college student skills in mathematics, particularly problem solving. Students are required to write their own notes for class and hand them in at the end for credit. Instead of a traditional lecture format, the first part of class is used to do examples of problems, creating an opportunity to model problem solving strategies for the class. Students then are separated into groups to work on individualized homework sets delivered via WeBWorK and group projects. Although problem sets are individualized, the problem types are the same from student to student, and the groups work on problems from all students in the group. Several issues of implementation are identified. Also discussed are alternative implementations of parts of the strategy, and possible extensions of the strategy to other courses that aren’t based on problem-solving.

scholarly journals AI, visual imagery, and a case study on the challenges posed by human intelligence tests

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (47) ◽  
pp. 29390-29397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maithilee Kunda
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Visual Imagery ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Intelligence Tests ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Artificial Agents ◽  
Knowledge Representations ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies

Observations abound about the power of visual imagery in human intelligence, from how Nobel prize-winning physicists make their discoveries to how children understand bedtime stories. These observations raise an important question for cognitive science, which is, what are the computations taking place in someone’s mind when they use visual imagery? Answering this question is not easy and will require much continued research across the multiple disciplines of cognitive science. Here, we focus on a related and more circumscribed question from the perspective of artificial intelligence (AI): If you have an intelligent agent that uses visual imagery-based knowledge representations and reasoning operations, then what kinds of problem solving might be possible, and how would such problem solving work? We highlight recent progress in AI toward answering these questions in the domain of visuospatial reasoning, looking at a case study of how imagery-based artificial agents can solve visuospatial intelligence tests. In particular, we first examine several variations of imagery-based knowledge representations and problem-solving strategies that are sufficient for solving problems from the Raven’s Progressive Matrices intelligence test. We then look at how artificial agents, instead of being designed manually by AI researchers, might learn portions of their own knowledge and reasoning procedures from experience, including learning visuospatial domain knowledge, learning and generalizing problem-solving strategies, and learning the actual definition of the task in the first place.

scholarly journals Conceptual Metaphors as Interpretive Tools in Qualitative Research: A Re-Examination of College Students’ Diversity Discussions

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Kochis ◽  
Diane Gillespie
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
College Student ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
The Self ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Problematic Situations

In this contribution to the growing literature on conceptual metaphor as a fruitful heuristic for qualitative analysis, the authors re-analyzed transcripts of college student discussions of problematic situations involving cultural diversity and interpersonal conflict. The authors show how they identified metaphorical linguistic expressions and from them derived three conceptual metaphors (life is a journey, the problem is a barrier/maze, and the self is divided) that in turn formed patterns or constellations of meanings in students’ problem-solving strategies. As an interpretive tool, conceptual metaphors link certain isolated individual metaphors to these larger patterns of meaning, including ideological frameworks readily available in US culture.

Assessing Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments

2016 ◽  
pp. 706-724
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Rouet ◽  
Zsofia Vörös ◽  
Matthias von Davier
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Computer Applications ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Accurate Assessment ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Research Studies

The spread of digital information system has promoted new ways of performing activities, whereby laypersons make use of computer applications in order to achieve their goal through the use of problem solving strategies. These new forms of problem solving rely on a range of skills whose accurate assessment is key to the development of postindustrial economies. In this chapter, we outline a definition of problem solving in technology-rich environment drawn from the OECD PIAAC survey of adult skills. Then we review research studies aimed at defining and using online indicators of PS-TRE proficiency. Finally, we present a case study of one item that was part of the PIAAC PS-TRE assessment.

scholarly journals Problem-Solving Strategies in Music Composition: A Case Study

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN McADAMS
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Chamber Orchestra ◽  
Music Composition ◽  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Solo Piano ◽  
Performance Constraints ◽  
Temporal Structures ◽  
Final Score ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies

The composition of a piece of contemporary music for solo piano, 16-piece chamber orchestra, and 6-channel, computer-processed sound was tracked and documented from its initial conception to its concert premier. Notebooks, sketches, diagrams, recorded interviews, and the final score were used to address the solving of three compositional problems raised within the context of the piece. The first problem concerned the need to compose the five themes for the piece (23––100 s in duration) for both solo piano and chamber orchestra. Issues of performance constraints associated with the two media and on translation from a restricted to a more open timbral palette played an important role. The second problem involved composing the two major parts of the piece with similar temporal structures but vastly different ways of traversing the same thematic musical materials. Spatial, graphical representations and self-imposed graphic organization of the score were important factors in resolving this issue. The third problem involved conceiving of the computer component to accompany either of the two major parts, because the piece could be played with them in either order. The solution involved organizing the computer component into discrete parts that had fairly continuous textures and finalizing this component before the final composing of the instrumental components. Issues concerning the aspects of compositional problem-solving that are available for study, the types of representations used in problem solving,and the generalizability of such results to other pieces by the same composer or other composers are discussed.

Development of Problem-Solving Strategies in Repeated Sentence-Verification Tasks

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 655-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. E. Harpur ◽  
Heather M. A. Macleod ◽  
Joy V. Decker
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Repeated Exposure ◽  
Verification Task ◽  
Problem Types ◽  
Different Types ◽  
General Improvement ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies

This experiment was designed to investigate the development of problem-solving strategies by subjects in a sentence-verification paradigm which permitted repeated exposure to problems of the same type. While it was predicted that subjects would show a general improvement across trials as a function of repeated exposure to similar sets of problems, nevertheless it was predicted that some types of problem would show little or no improvement across trials, while other problems would show significant improvement as the subjects determined more efficient strategies to use to aid in rapid solutions. The results illustrate that certain types of sentence-verification tasks allow the development of efficient strategies which significantly decrease reaction times across trials, while other problem types produce uniform response rates across problem sets with negligible improvement as a function of practice. The results ate interpreted in terms of the relative availability of problem-solving strategies for the different types of verification task.

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