A Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach to Facilitating Web-based Collaborative Problem Solving

Enhancing students’ problem-solving abilities has been recognized as an important and challenging issue for technology-enhanced learning. Thus, previous research has attempted to address this issue by developing various mechanisms, among which a cognitive apprenticeship model can particularly enhance students’ abilities. However, it is not clear whether such a mechanism is suitable for every learner. Thus, this study examines the effects of human factors on problem-solving effectiveness in the cognitive apprenticeship model. Among various human factors, this study focuses on cognitive styles, with an emphasis on Witken’s Field Dependence. The results indicate that Field Dependent learners can get great benefits from the cognitive apprenticeship model via collaborative learning. Implications for how to accommodate the needs of different cognitive style groups are discussed.