Around 1960, there were quite radical changes in emphasis in many countries in school chemistry education, with subsequent changes in many university courses. Considerable research was undertaken to explore the learning problems students were reporting and the common thread underlying became apparent: it related to the way humans process new information. From this research evidence, a model of ...

In this paper, a formal framework to problem-solving processes is presented. The framework is not complete. Nevertheless, even its present sophistication allows one to see that it is promising. The framework demonstrably allows one to understand scientific change as content-guided. It will be argued that a formal framework is required in order to make definite and precise statements about the c...

Specific training may be required to develop creativity in design students. At the very least, training is valuable in developing creativity in first-year students. Creativity is a skill that can be examined, used and taught – and it is one that is central to designing. This paper presents the results of empirical research from a class in creative problem solving for design students. The nature...

In contrast to traditional projects, which are assumed to be fully specified and then executed with little learning anticipated, complex projects cannot be fully specified at the outset and require continuous learning over their life cycles. Nevertheless, the key role of knowledge formation and learning in managing complex projects is under-developed for expanding project capability boundaries ...

In this paper we discuss some preliminary findings from an evaluation on online interactions within a large population undergraduate computing course offered by the Open University (UK). The course uses asynchronous electronic conferencing to provide students at a distance with a collaborative learning environment. One type of online activity on the course is group working, which is of a practi...

For many people, planning is related to goal setting and finding means to achieve these goals. The goals have to be formulated as clearly as possible. The means have to be selected in such an accountable way that an outsider-expert will be able to trace and accept the strategic arguments, and that the planning can be evaluated afterwards. Such a perspective on planning is restricted and contest...

An experimental study on a computer-based environment for learning by problem-posing has been developed for the students. A long-term evaluation with the system was carried out for two months by testing it in a classroom composed by 99 students belonging to three second grade classes at an elementary school. Two systems were arranged in each class for the students and they were allowed to use t...

Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving. In PBL, stu...

One problem in ill-defined domains is accurately identifying the source of errors. Obtaining sufficient information about the error can be difficult because doing so may interfere with the learning task. In this paper we present the results of an experiment in the domain of German adjectives. We trialed a modified student interface that gathers more data during problem solving by requiring the ...

Structural features of learning tasks are relevant for problem solving but not salient for novice learners. Feedback in the form of Knowledge of Correct Response (KCR) during practice is expected to help learners recognize the structural features and to profit from learner control over the selection of learning tasks. A 2 x 2 factorial experiment (N = 118) was conducted to study the effects of ...