Towards a Theory of Impasse-Driven Learning.
Abstract
Earlier work has shown that students often reach impasses while trying to use a procedural skill that they are acquiring. The step that they believe should be executed next cannot be performed. If they are in a test-taking situation, where they may not receive help, they perform a specific, simple kind of problem solving, called repair. This report speculates about what happens when impasses occur during instructional situations where help is available. The conjecture is that the help that students receive -- either from the teacher, from examining the textbook, or from other information sources -- is reduced to a sequence of actions that will get the students past the particular impasse that is preventing them from completing the exercise problem. This action sequence is generalized to become a new subprocedure. The new subprocedure is inserted into the old procedure at the location where the impasse occurred. The proposed learning process is called impasse-driven learning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 12, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA186643
Entities
People
- Kurt VanLehn
Organizations
- Carnegie Mellon University