week 9: Instructional Strategies Leading to Problem-solving

Problem solving skills are abilities to use previously acquired skills and knowledge to solve never-met-before but similar problems.

Designers normally include verbs like:
solve, determine, resolve, plan, troubleshoot

There are problem-solving processes can range in complexity from :
(the least complex)
1. puzzle problem
2. algorithm
3. story problem
4. rule-using problem
5. trouble-shooting
6. diagnosis-solution
7. case method problem
8. designs
9. issue-based

It must be noted that different level of problems have their own different strategies to tackle.
These problems have characteristics that varies with the degrees of structure, complexity and abstractness.
Problem solving tasks is simpler when there are fewer principles involved.

In the lecture notes and the reading,
problem-solving processes involves either well-structured problems or ill-structured ones.

Well-structured problems contains:
(i) all required information
(ii) limited rules & principles (the fewer the easier)
(iii) a single correct answer
(iv) a preferred method to solve

On the other hand, ill-structured problems contains:
(i) fuzzies (unclear goals)
(ii) multiple solutions
(iii) multiple methods
(iv) no general rule to doing it (hence judgement is needed.)

There is 4 components of cognitive processing in problem-solving:
1. knowledge representation
2. solution planning
3. solution implementation
4. solution evaluation

Other than the differences in the problem-solving tasks,
inidividual differences also exist.
Because different people has different mental capabilities
(familiarity with the concept; prior knowledge; high-level mental controls and beliefs; motivational factors),
designers must consider how such individual differences can be used/compromised in the designing of instructions.

To introduce problem-solving lessons,
deisigners must be able to
1. deploy attention
2. establish instructional purpose
3. promote interest and motivation
4. preview lesson

The problem-solving lesson should
1. review relevant prior knowledge
2. process information
3. focus attention
4. employ learning strategies
5. include practises
6. process feedback.

As a conclusion, it will be good to include
1. summary (followed by)
2. review
3. suggestions of methods - to organise problem schema for storage and easy retrieval
4. remotivate learners
5. conclude by giving reminders

The assessment of problem-solving learning is also an important aspect of the design of instructions.
The problems given to learners to practice should have a similar context as the examples - this is, despite the need to assess the learners requires problems to be novel and unencountered.

I believe that problem-solving instructions are very much needed in our knowledge-based economy today. There's an increasing demand in the reaction time needed to problems, and is probably due to globalisation and the ability to create massive changes with the technology we have today.