SGER: Encoding and Strategy Use in Children's Problem Solving

SGER：儿童解决问题中的编码和策略使用

• 批准号: 9727881
• 负责人: Martha Alibali
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-09-01 至 1999-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9727881&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Encoding; Strategy; Use; Children

This project concerns conceptual development in childhood, focusing on the processes whereby children develop new problem-solving strategies. When children solve problems, they `encode` - that is, extract and mentally represent -- perceptual regularities about the problems. The central theoretical premise of this project is that children use this encoded knowledge when they need to construct new strategies. This theoretical framework leads to predictions about when children will generate new strategies, and about the types of strategies they will generate. The proposed experiments examine problem encoding and strategy change in children learning the concept of mathematical equivalence, which is the notion that the two sides of an equation (e.g., 6 + 4 = 10) represent the same quantity. Understanding of this concept will be probed with problems of the form 3 + 4 + 5 = ? + 5; children are asked to supply the missing number (in this case, 7). Study 1 tests two hypotheses: (a) that feedback and instruction lead to changes in problem encoding; and (b) that children who encode problem features they do not use in applying their current strategies are especially likely to create new strategies. Study 2 explores two additional hypotheses: (a) that modifications in children's encoding will lead them to construct new strategies; an (b) that the types of new strategies children generate will depend on the specific problem features they encode. In addition to testing these substantive hypotheses the research will develop a set of new methodological tools for assessing children's problem encoding. Two novel behavioral measures will be developed: (a) assessments of performance on problem recognition tests (e.g., Which problem did you see earlier?, with choices including 3 + 4 + 5 = ?, 3 + 4 + 5 + 5 = ?, etc.); and (b) assessments of spontaneous hand gestures produced during problem explanations (e.g., pointing in a particular sequence to the numbers in the problem). The studies will explore the relationship between these two measures, and how each relates to strategy use and strategy generation. The results of the project will contribute to understanding of cognitive development, and should also provide a basis for improving instruction in mathematical problem-solving.

该项目涉及儿童期的概念发展，重点是儿童发展新的解决问题战略的过程。 当孩子们解决问题时，他们“编码”-也就是说，提取和心理表征-关于问题的感知。这个项目的中心理论前提是，当孩子们需要构建新的策略时，他们会使用这种编码的知识。这个理论框架可以预测孩子们何时会产生新的策略，以及他们会产生什么类型的策略。 提出的实验研究了儿童学习数学等价概念时的问题编码和策略变化，数学等价概念是一个等式的两边（例如，6 + 4 = 10）表示相同的数量。 对这个概念的理解将通过3 + 4 + 5 =？+ 5;要求孩子们提供缺失的数字（在这种情况下，7）。 研究1检验了两个假设：（a）反馈和指导导致问题编码的变化;（B）编码问题特征的儿童在应用现有策略时不使用这些特征，特别有可能创造新的策略。 研究2探讨了两个额外的假设：（a）儿童编码的修改将导致他们构建新的策略;（B）儿童产生的新策略类型将取决于他们编码的特定问题特征。 除了测试这些实质性的假设，研究将开发一套新的方法工具来评估儿童的问题编码。 将开发两种新的行为措施：（a）评估问题识别测试的表现（例如，你之前看到的是哪个问题？选择包括3 + 4 + 5 =？，3 + 4 + 5 + 5 =？，等）;以及（B）在问题解释期间产生的自发手势的评估（例如，以特定序列指向问题中的数字）。 这些研究将探讨这两个指标之间的关系，以及它们各自与策略使用和策略生成的关系。 该项目的结果将有助于理解认知发展，也应该为改善数学问题解决教学提供基础。