1 / 9

Education 173 Cognition and Learning in Educational Settings Problem Solving Fall Quarter 2007

Explore the nuances of problem-solving in cognition and learning, from heuristics to insight. Understand the role of experts, implications, and emotional regulation in solving ill-defined problems. Discover the importance and strategies for effective problem-solving.

christene
Download Presentation

Education 173 Cognition and Learning in Educational Settings Problem Solving Fall Quarter 2007

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Education 173Cognition and Learning in Educational SettingsProblem SolvingFall Quarter 2007

  2. Problem Solving • A Major Category of Human Cognition • What is Problem Solving? • The pursuit of a goal when the path to that goal is uncertain • Distinct from Algorithmic Performance • No rule or recipe to guarantee success • Tying shoelaces is not problem solving • Or is it?

  3. Heuristics Can Help • Heuristics • Are “rules of thumb” • Not algorithms • Because success is not guaranteed • Polya’s Heuristics for Mathematical Problem Solving • Think of a related problem • Try to solve part of problem • Draw a picture

  4. Heuristic Search • Search Through Problem Space • Beginning state • What’s the situation? • Westley: What are our assets?” • Ending state • What are we trying to accomplish? • Legal moves • What’s permitted? • Metaphor: Navigating a Maze

  5. General and Domain-Specific Heuristics • General Heuristics • Hill climbing • Working backward • Means-ends analysis • Working forward (experts) • Subgoaling is a common feature • Domain-Specific Heuristics • Math: Polya’s heuristics • Writing: Save words

  6. Experts and Novices • How Much Knowledge?: 50,000 Chunks • How Much Time?: 10 Years • But what about Mozart? • Problem Solving Characteristics • Working forward heuristic • Deep structure vs. surface features • More up-front time in problem representation • When Would Experts Rely on General Heuristics?

  7. Insight • Sudden Solution of a Problem • Stages of Insight • Preparation • Incubation • Bed, bath, bus phenomenon • Illumination “Aha” • Verification • Even Apes: Gestalt Theory • Sultan on Tenerife

  8. Implications of Problem Solving • Problem Solving is Important to Human Purpose. • Being successful in __________ . • Some Problems Are Ill-Defined • Where the ultimate goal and means are not clear. • Problem Solving Involves Regulation of Emotion • “I don’t know what I’m doing” • And that’s okay • Errors and Inefficiency • Are they always bad? • Are they compatible with the school culture?

More Related