Cognitive structures of good and poor novice problem solvers in physics.

Abstract

The way knowledge is organized in memory is generally expected to relate to the degree of success in problem solving.In the present study, we investigated whether good novice problem solvers have their knowledge arranged around problem types to a greater extent than poor problem solvers have.In the subject of physics (electricity and magnetism), 12 problem types were distinguished according to their underlying physics principles.For each problem type, a set of elements of knowledge containing characteristics of the problem situation, declarative knowledge, and procedural knowledge was constructed.All of the resulting 65 elements were printed on cards, and first-year university students in physics (N = 47) were asked to sort these cards into coherent piles shortly after they had taken an examination on electricity and magnetism.Essentially, good novice problem solvers sorted the cards according to problem types; the sorting by the poor problem solvers seemed to be determined to a greater extent by the surface characteristics of the elements.We concluded than an organization of knowledge around problem types might be highly conducive to good performance in problem solving by novice problem solvers.In literature about problem solving in semantically rich domains, two research trends can be distinguished.One trend for research pays attention mainly to the process of solution (Reif, Larkin, & Brackett, 1976;Schoenfeld, 1979).The other trend focuses on the knowledge of the problem solver and, particularly, on the organization of the knowledge (Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser, 1981;Chi, Glaser, & Rees, 1982;Larkin, 1979).A shift of interest from general, more or less domain-independent problem-solving strategies to the domain-related knowledge base of the problem solver can be seen (Greeno, 1980).First of all, problem solving in semantically rich domains requires knowledge of the subject matter involved.A series of interesting experiments by Perfetto, Bransford, & Franks (1983), however, showed that the mere presence of knowledge in memory does not necessarily imply that this knowledge will be available at the time of problem solving.This availability of knowledge can be enhanced by an adequate organization of knowledge in memory, in other words, by a suitable cognitive structure; therefore, such a structure can play a crucial role in problem solving.According to Chi et al. (1982), a cognitive structure adequate for problem solving is composed of problem schemata.By a problem schema, they mean a set of elements of knowledge that are closely linked with each other within We are grateful to Wim Vaags, Don Mellenbergh, and Christiaan Hamaker for their very helpful comments throughout the course of the experiment.

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