This paper is about how problems get defined typically the sort of problems associated with organisational decision making. The author is concerned that by objectifying problem definition, scientific management make invisible whose problems they are and so silences solutions that may be attractive to others. This paper will argue that problem definition should focus on the person having the pro...

In spite of advancements in technology, the manufacturing of many small products and components continues to be labor intensive, and their assembly processes still rely on skill and craftsmanship. This paper describes operational problem solving through consultant-led intervention at one such manufacturer of watch dials, involving a combination of incremental and breakthrough improvements leadi...

We have created a student model which dynamically collects information about a student,s problem solving ability, acquisition of new topics and retention of earlier topics. This information is provided to the tutor and used to generate new problems at the appropriate level of difficulty and to provide customized hints and help. Formative evaluation of the tutor with 20 students provides evidenc...

When the first author began work in chemical education, he became interested in research on problem solving for several reasons. First, problem solving is what chemists do, regardless of whether they work in the area of synthesis, spectroscopy, theory, analysis, or the characterization of compounds. Second, it was clear that individuals who were successful in chemistry courses either developed ...

Network-based learning or e-Learning has been taking an important role in education as helpful education tools. However, it is difficult for teachers to retrieve education data from students or to obtain data from the student activities. Therefore, we have developed a problem solving environment (PSE) for the education and learning support: TSUNA-TASTE. The TSUNA-TASTE system collects the syste...

A summary of research on PBL by Center for Excellence in Leadership for Learning at University of Indianapolis indicates that PBL: (a) has a positive effect on student content knowledge and the development of skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving; (b) benefits students by increasing their motivation and engagement; and (c) is challenging for teachers to implement,...

What is the Problem of Universals? In this paper we take up the classic question and proceed as follows. In Sect. 1 we consider three problem solving settings and define the notion of problem solving accordingly. Basically I say that to solve problems is to eliminate undesirable, unspecified, or apparently incoherent scenarios. In Sect. 2 we apply the general observations from Sect. 1 to the Pr...