Problem-Solving Followed by Instruction: State-of-the-Art and New Directions

Abstract

This thesis makes three inter-related contributions pertinent to problem-solving followed by instruction (PS-I), a learning design with high potential to influence students’ conceptual understanding and transfer. The first contribution aims at expanding the field meta-analytically by investigating factors affecting PS-I efficacy, relative to other widely practiced learning designs such as instruction followed by problem-solving (I-PS), scaffolded problem-solving followed by instruction (+PS-I), and alternative preparatory activity (e.g., worked example, problem-posing) followed by instruction (!PS-I). This strand of research is motivated by the fact that on the one hand, immense variability exists in PS-I implementations over the years, while on the other hand, attempts to synthesize this body of work are mostly qualitative in nature. The conducted meta-analyses therefore fill the research gap of identifying conditions under which preparatory problem-solving effects are best fostered. Results suggest a significant differential advantage of PS-I over I-PS, with additive effects when PS-I is implemented with high fidelity to the design principles of Productive Failure (PF). The learning advantage of PS-I still holds relative to !PS-I (albeit marginally significantly, and with partially additive effects for PF fidelity). However, existing work on scaffolding preparatory problem-solving (primarily towards problem-solving success) has no added learning benefits. The second contribution, via a classroom and follow-up lab study, therefore aims at experimentally investigating deliberate, guided failure as a novel scaffolding strategy within PS-I. This strand of research is motivated by the fact that within PS-I, there is a growing body of research on (i) unsuccessful attempts to explicitly scaffold problem-solving towards success (e.g., via cognitive and/or metacognitive support), and, (ii) mixed attempts to increase failure-likelihood by leaving preparatory problem-solving unscaffolded (that is, by not providing any explicit scaffolds). Creating failure opportunities in a learning design, however, does not automatically imply that students actually experience failure. The conducted experimental studies therefore fill the research gap of explicitly scaffolding preparatory problem-solving towards failure and examining its differential impact on learning. Results based on posttest scores and quality of student reasoning suggest that nudging students towards suboptimal solutions (via explicit failure-driven scaffolds) may lead to stronger conceptual understanding and the ability to transfer than nudging students towards more optimal solutions (via explicit success-driven scaffolds). Additionally, students exposed to both forms of scaffolding perform better than students who receive no explicit scaffolding during the problem-solving phase. The third contribution aims at expanding the explanatory basis of PS-I using process (and several retrospective) measures. This strand of research is motivated by the fact that despite growing work on certain retrospectively-administered measures (e.g., knowledge gap awareness, state curiosity) explaining differential advantages of PS-I across multiple studies, their impact altogether has not been thus far examined within a single study context. Mechanisms such as cognitive dissonance and metacognitive calibration, which are pertinent to the presence of scaffolding, have not yet been explored. Further, former educational psychology work on process measures of affect is limited to I-PS and/or guided discovery style contexts, with learning outcomes assessed independent of formal classroom instruction. The conducted multimodal learning analyses foregrounding the mechanisms of PS-I therefore fill the research gap of assessing fine-grained temporal dynamics of cognition and affect, and triangulating these dynamics with several retrospectively-administered measures. Results suggest abundance of unconventional negative emotions like shame, anger, disgust and contempt that differentially impact learning, and corroborate previously established work on the presence and positive influence of positive emotions like surprise, interest and happiness in generative problem-solving. The emotional roller-coaster ride experienced by students in preparatory problem-solving drives learning benefits. Taken together, the interdisciplinary contributions of this thesis advance state of the art in Educational Psychology, Learning Sciences and Affective Computing by the design of (and investigation of mechanisms underlying) failure-driven and success-driven pedagogy in PS-I.