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Successful Problem Solving in Genetics Varies Based on Question Content.

ABSTRACT: Problem solving is a critical skill in many disciplines but is often a challenge for students to learn. To examine the processes both students and experts undertake to solve constructed-response problems in genetics, we collected the written step-by-step procedures individuals used to solve problems in four different content areas. We developed a set of codes to describe each cognitive and metacognitive process and then used these codes to describe more than 1800 student and 149 expert answers. We found that students used some processes differently depending on the content of the question, but reasoning was consistently predictive of successful problem solving across all content areas. We also confirmed previous findings that the metacognitive processes of planning and checking were more common in expert answers than student answers. We provide suggestions for instructors on how to highlight key procedures based on each specific genetics content area that can help students learn the skill of problem solving.

SUBMITTER: Avena JS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8715770 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Successful Problem Solving in Genetics Varies Based on Question Content.

Avena Jennifer S JS McIntosh Betsy B BB Whitney Oscar N ON Wiens Ashton A Knight Jennifer K JK

CBE life sciences education 20211201 4

Problem solving is a critical skill in many disciplines but is often a challenge for students to learn. To examine the processes both students and experts undertake to solve constructed-response problems in genetics, we collected the written step-by-step procedures individuals used to solve problems in four different content areas. We developed a set of codes to describe each cognitive and metacognitive process and then used these codes to describe more than 1800 student and 149 expert answers. ...[more]

PMID: 34546101

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Project description:In this paper we argue that a synthesis of findings across the various sub-areas of research in complex problem solving and consequently progress in theory building is hampered by an insufficient differentiation of complexity and difficulty. In the proposed framework of person, task, and situation (PTS), complexity is conceptualized as a quality that is determined by the cognitive demands that the characteristics of the task and the situation impose. Difficulty represents the quantifiable level of a person's success in dealing with such demands. We use the well-documented "semantic effect" as an exemplar for testing some of the conceptual assumptions derived from the PTS framework. We demonstrate how a differentiation between complexity and difficulty can help take beyond a potentially too narrowly defined psychometric perspective and subsequently gain a better understanding of the cognitive mechanisms behind this effect. In an empirical study a total of 240 university students were randomly allocated to one of four conditions. The four conditions resulted from contrasting the semanticity level of the variable labels used in the CPS system (high vs. low) and two instruction conditions for how to explore the CPS system's causal structure (starting with the assumption that all relationships between variables existed vs. starting with the assumption that none of the relationships existed). The variation in the instruction aimed at inducing knowledge acquisition processes of either (1) systematic elimination of presumptions, or (2) systematic compilation of a mental representation of the causal structure underpinning the system. Results indicate that (a) it is more complex to adopt a "blank slate" perspective under high semanticity as it requires processes of inhibiting prior assumptions, and (b) it seems more difficult to employ a systematic heuristic when testing against presumptions. In combination, situational characteristics, such as the semanticity of variable labels, have the potential to trigger qualitatively different tasks. Failing to differentiate between 'task' and 'situation' as independent sources of complexity and treating complexity and difficulty synonymously threaten the validity of performance scores obtained in CPS research.

Dataset Information

Successful Problem Solving in Genetics Varies Based on Question Content.

Publications

Successful Problem Solving in Genetics Varies Based on Question Content.

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