Schema-Based Theories of Problem Solving
Abstract
The objective of this research is to develop a schema-based model of problem solving to account for how students attempt to solve algebra word problems. One project, consisting of 3 experiments, investigated how students combine examples and procedures (rules) to solve problems. In Experiments 1, subjects rated how useful the solution for one problem would be for solving another problem. Experiment 2 investigated criteria for selecting a good example and showed how the usefulness of an example is determined by the transformational distance from the test problem. Experiment 3 compared 3 groups of student who received either an example, a set of procedures or both in order to evaluate a quantitative model of how students use examples, procedures, and their general knowledge. A second set of experiments investigated whether a detailed comparison of 2 isomorphic problems would result in a more abstract representation of those problems. The results indicated that schema abstraction did not occur for word those problems. The results indicated that schema abstraction did not occur for word problems (Experiment 4).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 21, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA203731
Entities
People
- Stephen K. Reed
Organizations
- Florida Atlantic University