Problem Solving in Quantitative Science: Practical Instruction and Cognitive Models

首席研究员将进行一项研究及发展计划，将过去的实验室研究转化为实际相关的指导。他们的目标是：(1)为基础物理原型领域有效解决问题的教学提供理论基础，但实际有用的方法和材料；(2)增加对学习解决此类问题所需的认知过程的理解；(3)从而为其他定量科学的问题解决教学设计制定基于研究的指导方针。这项工作将使用交互式教学方法来明确地教授一般问题解决策略，组织良好的知识库，以及应用该策略所需的决策和检查过程。教学方法、材料和基础理论模型将通过一系列教学实验，从小规模研究扩展到课堂环境，逐步得到改进。在这些课程中，我们将对学生进行详细的观察，对数据进行分析（部分通过计算机建模），以阐明潜在的学习困难，并系统地使用结果来修改教学方法。将制作示范教材，提供给教师和其他研究人员。

The Principal Investigators will conduct an R and D project that will translate past laboratory studies into practically relevant instruction. Their goals are: (1) to develop theoretically based, but practically useful methods and materials for teaching effective problem solving in the prototype domain of basic physics; (2) to increase understanding of the cognitive processes needed to learn such problem solving; and (3) thus to develop research-based guidelines for designing problem-solving instruction in other quantitative sciences. The effort will use interactive instructional methods to teach explicitly a general problem-solving strategy, a well-organized knowledge base, and the decision and checking processes needed to apply the strategy. The instructional methods, materials, and underlying theoretical models will be cumulatively improved by a sequence of instructional experiments, extending from small-scale studies to classroom contexts. In these the students will be observed in detail, the data analyzed (partially by computer modeling) to elucidate underlying learning difficulties, and the results systematically used to revise the instructional approach. Prototype instructional materials will be produced and made available to teachers and other researchers.