Problem solving through imitation

This paper presents an approach to problem solving through imitation. It introduces the Statistical and Temporal Percept Action Coupling (ST-PAC) System which statistically models the dependency between the perceptual state of the world and the resulting actions that this state should elicit. The ST-PAC system stores a sparse set of experiences provided by a teacher. These memories are stored to allow efficient recall and generalisation over novel systems states. Random exploration is also used as a fall-back “brute-force” mechanism should a recalled experience fail to solve a scenario. Statistical models are used to couple groups of percepts with similar actions and incremental learning used to incorporate new experiences into the system. The system is demonstrated within the problem domain of a children’s shape sorter puzzle. The ST-PAC system provides an emergent architecture where competence is implicitly encoded within the system. In order to train and evaluate such emergent architectures, the concept of the Complexity Chain is proposed. The Complexity Chain allows efficient structured learning in a similar fashion to that used in biological system and can also be used as a method for evaluating a cognitive system’s performance. Tests demonstrating the Complexity Chain in learning are shown in both simulated and live environments. Experimental results show that the proposed methods allowed for good generalisation and concept refinement from an initial set of sparse examples provided by a tutor.     

Problem solving and collaboration using mobile serious games

This paper presents the results obtained with the implementation of a series of learning activities based on Mobile Serious Games (MSGs) for the development of problem solving and collaborative skills in Chilean 8th grade students. Three MSGs were developed and played by teams of four students in order to solve problems collaboratively. A quasi-experimental design was used. The data shows that the experimental group achieved a higher perception of their own collaboration skills and a higher score in the plan execution dimension of the problem solving cycle than did the non-equivalent control group, revealing that MSG-based learning activities may contribute to such learning improvements. This challenges future research to identify under which conditions learning activities based on mobile serious games can promote the development of higher order skills.     

Automated data provenance capture in spreadsheets,with case studies

One of the most important tasks in eScience is capturing the provenance of data. While scientists frequently use off-the-shelf analysis tools to process and manipulate data, current provenance techniques such as those based on scientific workflows are typically not able to trace internal data manipulations that occur within these tools. In this paper, we focus on one such off-the-shelf tool, MS Excel, which is used by many scientists; specifically, we propose InSituTrac, an automated in situ provenance approach for spreadsheet data in Excel. Our framework captures data provenance unobtrusively in the background, allows for user annotations, provides undo/redo functionality at various levels of granularity, presents the captured provenance in an accessible format, and visualizes captured provenance to support analysis of the provenance log. We highlight several motivating use case scenarios which show how provenance queries can be answered by our approach. Finally, case studies with an atmospheric science research group and a fisheries research group suggest that the automated provenance approach is both efficient and useful to scientists.     

Success and failure analysis of a problem solving system implementation

The NAPSS (Numerical Analysis Problem Solving System) project was an attempt to develop an interactive system, with a high-level language resembling conventional mathematics, for solving problems in numerical analysis. This report uses NAPSS as an example to discuss some aspects of the design and implementation of the programming languages and software which comprise problem solving systems. Successful features as well as failures (with alternative proposals) are detailed in the areas of general language management, specific language features and the operating system interface. In general, a massive, coherent implementation of theoretical work being done at the frontiers of research has abundant opportunity for failure.     

Designing user interfaces for problem solving,with application to hypertext and creative writing

Interactive computer systems can support their users in problem solving, both in Performing their work tasks and in using the systems themselves. Not only is direct support for heuristics beneficial, but to do so modifies the form of computer support provided. This Paper defines and explores the use of problem solving heuristics in user interface design.A demonstration hypertext system, Hyperwriter, was developed as the outcome of considering general problem solving heuristics as goals of interactive systems design. Whereas hypertext joins and relates ideas, Hyperwriter additionally, and as a direct outcome of the design approach, has ways of separating, ordering and polishing ideas. As an application for creative writing, Hypertext supports effective thinking over a period of time. (This paper was drafted, organised and re-organised using the system itself.) Some issues arising in implementing Hyperwriter are also discussed.     

Scaffolding problem solving in technology-enhanced learning environments (TELEs): Bridging research and theory with practice

With the expanding availability and capability of varied technologies, classroom-based problem solving has become an increasingly attainable, yet still elusive, goal. Evidence of technology-enhanced problem-solving teaching and learning in schools has been scarce, understanding how to support students’ problem solving in classroom-based, technology-enhanced learning environments has been limited, and coherent frameworks to guide implementation have been slow to emerge. Whereas researchers have examined the use and impact of scaffolds in mathematics, science, and reading, comparatively little research has focused on scaffolding learning in real-world, everyday classroom settings. Web-based systems have been developed to support problem solving, but implementations suggest variable enactment and inconsistent impact. The purpose of this article is to identify critical issues in scaffolding students’ technology-enhanced problem solving in everyday classrooms. First, we examine two key constructs (problem solving and scaffolding) and propose a framework that includes essential dimensions to be considered when teachers scaffold student problem solving in technology-rich classes. We then investigate issues related to peer-, teacher-, and technology-enhanced scaffolds, and conclude by examining implications for research.     

The fuzzy relationship of intelligence and problem solving in computer simulations

Using the instructional computer simulation “Hunger in the Sahel”, two experiments were conducted concerning the moderating effect of domain knowledge on the correlation of intelligence and problem solving. Experiment 1 with N=200 students implemented a between-subjects design, Experiment 2 with N=28 young adults a within-subjects design with 10 repeated measures on problem solving. The results correspond to the Elshout–Raaheim hypothesis: With low domain knowledge, the correlation is low; with increasing knowledge, the correlation increases; with further increasing knowledge, the correlation decreases; finally, when the problem has become a simple task, the correlation is again low. The results are of practical and theoretical relevance for designing simulation-based learning environments and simulation-based tests for measuring intelligence and problem-solving ability.     

Measuring problem solving in computer environments: current and future states

The first part of this article will review the status of technology and educational reform; the second will treat traditional approaches to problem-solving measurement common today in technological settings; and the third will propose how problem-solving assessment may change and, in particular, the role that authoring strategies may play in measuring problem-solving performance successfully in computer environments. We will suggest four areas that must be considered in which computers would increase the fidelity and validity of measures of complex problem solving: (1) the intentions and skills of assessment designers; (2) the range of performance that counts as problem solving; (3) the ways in which validity evidence can be sought; and (4) the degree to which the measurement produces results that generalize across tasks and contexts.     

Cognitive process validation of an online problem solving assessment

In this study we tested a novel cognitive validation strategy that yoked participants' verbal protocols with their clickstream data using a problem solving assessment (IMMEX—Interactive Multimedia Exercises). Participants were presented with a scenario and provided with relevant and irrelevant information to solve the task. Participants could access the information in any order and attempt to solve the problem at any time. The most frequently occurring cognitive processes were paraphrasing text, accurate cause–effect inferences, and monitoring of problem solving behavior. Productive processes were related to success and consistent with scientific reasoning behavior on the task and unproductive processes were related to unsuccessful performance and consistent with poor reasoning. We found strong evidence of the cognitive validity of the IMMEX task. Components of an online process-based assessment testbed are identified.     

Information support systems for problem solving

The occurrence in the literature of success stories dealing with (management) information systems is rare indeed. This paper addresses some of the possible factors that make it difficult to design and implement successful information (and decision support) systems. More specifically, we consider the role of problem formulation and specification, including goal setting, in the design of information systems.     

The effects of case libraries on problem solving

Abstract The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of providing access to a case library of related stories while undergraduates solved ill-structured problems. While solving complex food product development problems, the experimental group accessed experts' stories of similar, previously solved problems; the comparable group accessed fact sheets (expository representation of stories' content); and the control group accessed text selected at random from a textbook dealing with issues unrelated to the stories. On multiple-choice questions assessing processes related to problem solving (prediction, inferences, explanations, etc.), experimental students out-performed the comparable and control groups. Performance on short-answer questions also assessing problem-related skills was not significantly different, in part because of test fatigue. Analysis of interviews identified a number of factors that students used in deciding how to apply their study strategies, including causal factors, grounding phenomenon, grounding in context, and outcomes.     

The effect of simulation games on the learning of computational problem solving

Simulation games are now increasingly applied to many subject domains as they allow students to engage in discovery processes, and may facilitate a flow learning experience. However, the relationship between learning experiences and problem solving strategies in simulation games still remains unclear in the literature. This study, thus, analyzed the feedback and problem solving behaviors of 117 students in a simulation game, designed to assist them to learn computational problem solving. It was found that students when learning computational problem solving with the game were more likely to perceive a flow learning experience than in traditional lectures. The students’ intrinsic motivation was also enhanced when they learned with the simulation game. In particular, the results of the study found a close association between the students’ learning experience states and their problem solving strategies. The students who perceived a flow experience state frequently applied trial-and-error, learning-by-example, and analytical reasoning strategies to learn the computational problem solving skills. However, a certain portion of students who experienced states of boredom and anxiety did not demonstrate in-depth problem solving strategies. For instance, the students who felt anxious in the simulation game did not apply the learning-by-example strategy as frequently as those in the flow state. In addition, the students who felt bored in the simulation game only learned to solve the problem at a superficial level.     

A conceptual framework mapping the application of information search strategies to well and ill-structured problem solving

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach that is organized around the investigation and resolution of problems. Problems are neither uniform nor similar. 11 and 12 in his design theory of problem solving has categorized problems into two broad types – well-structured and ill-structured. He has also described a host of mediating skills that impact problem solving outcomes. The thrust of this paper rests in the argument that the basis of these mediating skills is information search literacy and particularly, in view of the utility of the Internet as an informational repository, effective information searching skills. This study was an investigation of how different Internet information seeking strategies can be used to engage in problem solving. A conceptual framework that explains how different Internet information searching strategies can be employed in successfully solving well and ill-structured problems was devised and empirically tested. The research site was a newly established polytechnic in Singapore that employs problem-based learning to support its curricular implementation. The sample population of students came from a class of 25 first-year students. The research findings of this study inform that information searching skills indeed play an important role in problem solving. The findings affirm the need for students to be systematically instructed in the skills of information searching to be able to accomplish problem solving. The information searching necessary for solving well-structured problems is constrained and readily manageable. Thus, students only have to be acquainted with fundamental information searching skills to solve well-structured problems. On the other hand, the information needs of ill-structured problems are usually complex, multi-disciplinary and expansive. Hence, students have to be trained to apply a more advanced set of information searching skills in resolving ill-structured problems.     

Symbolic computational techniques for solving games

Games are useful in modular specification and analysis of systems where the distinction among the choices controlled by different components (for instance, the system and its environment) is made explicit. In this paper, we formulate and compare various symbolic computational techniques for deciding the existence of winning strategies. The game structure is given implicitly, and the winning condition is either a reachability game of the form p until q (for state predicates p and q) or a safety game of the form Always p.For reachability games, the first technique employs symbolic fixed-point computation using ordered binary decision diagrams (BDDs) [9]. The second technique checks for the existence of strategies that ensure winning within k steps, for a user-specified bound k, by reduction to the satisfiability of quantified boolean formulas. Finally, the bounded case can also be solved by reduction to satisfiability of ordinary boolean formulas, and we discuss two techniques, one based on encoding the strategy tree and one based on encoding a witness subgraph, for reduction to Sat. We also show how some of these techniques can be adopted to solve safety games. We compare the various approaches by evaluating them on two examples for reachability games, and on an interface synthesis example for a fragment of TinyOS [15] for safety games. We use existing tools such as Mocha [4], Mucke [7], Semprop [19], Qube [12], and Berkmin [13] and contrast the results.     

Assessing tenth-grade students’ problem solving ability online in the area of Earth sciences

This study examined tenth-grade students’ (n = 263) problem solving ability (PSA) online through assessing students’ domain-specific knowledge (DSK) and reasoning skills (RS) in Earth sciences as well as their attitudes toward (AT) Earth sciences related topics in a secondary school of Taiwan. The students’ PSA was evaluated based on a previous model (Chang, C. Y. (2004, November 26–27). Trends in assessing student earth science problem solving ability: the importance of domain-specific knowledge and reasoning skills in earth sciences. Paper presented at the Seoul Conference for International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO), Seoul, Korea; Chang, C. Y., & Barufaldi, J. P. (submitted). Does problem solving = prior knowledge + reasoning skills in science? An exploratory study. Journal of Experimental Education; Chang, C. Y., & Weng, Y. H. (2002). An exploratory study on students’ problem-solving ability in earth science. International Journal of Science Education, 24(5), 441–452) which empirically established that students’ PSA is a composite of DSK, RS and AT subscales. Major findings are as follows: (a) The correlation coefficient among students’ DSK, RS and AT was relatively small, indicating that these subscales might have successfully represented different constructs of students’ PSA; (b) a significantly positive correlation existed between students’ PSA total scores and each subscale. It is, therefore, suggested that students’ PSA may be potentially assessed online by measuring their essential components in the area of Earth sciences.     

Developing mathematical problem solving skills

Problem solving often requires a representation of given information in a structured form which can stimulate and support the problem solving process. FunctionLab is a computer based learning environment meeting this requirement and designed to assist problem solving and the development of problem solving skills in algebra word problems. A feature of the system is its interface design which incorporates tools for students to represent problem information as generic and dynamic process models which support investigatory learning and illustrate the structural characteristics of solutions. The design of FunctionLab is described together with an initial evaluation study of its effects on problem solving performances and methods of solution.     

Wolves, bees, and football: Enhancing coordination in sociotechnological problem solving systems through the study of human and animal groups

This paper describes how sociotechnological systems comprising human and technological agents can be considered problem solving systems. Problem solving systems typically comprise many agents, each characterized by at least partial autonomy. A challenge for problem solving systems is to coordinate system agent operations during problem solving. This paper explores how competence models of human–human and animal–animal coordination might be used to inform the design of problem solving systems so that the potential for agent coordination is enhanced. System design principles are identified based on a review of competent coordination in human groups, such as work and sport teams, and animal groups, such wolf packs and bee colonies. These principles are then discussed in relation to agent coordination in the domains of E-Science, future combat systems, and medicine, which typify real-world environments comprising problem solving systems.     

Laypersons’ digital problem solving: Relationships between strategy and performance in a large-scale international survey

This study examines the role of online data as indicators of the cognitive processes involved in problem solving in a technology-rich environment. More specifically, we analyze the relationship between response time, logged action count and task outcomes in a sample of over 23,000 adults from 16 countries who participated in the Problem solving in technology-rich environments (PS-TRE) assessment as part of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey. Based on a selection of tasks used in the PS-TRE assessment, the results show that while time on task may have a heterogeneous effect on a population level depending on task difficulty, action count is positively linked to task accuracy. The data also reveals a surprisingly varied and task-specific relationship between those variables.     

The role of computer tools in experts’ solving ill-structured problems

The focus of this study is first, the qualitative changes within the human agent as a result of extensive computer tool use (over 5 years), also described as the effect of tool use [Pea, R. D. (1985). Beyond amplification: using the computer to reorganize mental functioning. Educational Psychologist, 20(4), 167–182; Salomon, G. (1990). Cognitive effects with and of computer technology. Communication Research, 17(1), 26–44], and second, the “quantitative changes in accomplishment” of the human agent in the presence of computer tools, also described as effect with-tools [Pea (1985, p. 57); Solomon (1990)]. This research used ill-structured problem solving as the task and experts with more than 6 years of domain and tool experience to document the changes in their knowledge structures. The study also compared the differences between the ill-structured problem solving with and without the computer tool to identify differences that may be a result of the computer’s presence.     

Students' approaches and attitudes to solving computer presented problems

Abstract  The 'diseases oriented' approach to teaching medicine was used as a basis for computer presented problems to first and second year clinical students. Performance on one of the problems was analysed retrospectively to compare students who had attended innovatory Problem Based Learning (PBL) tutorials with those who experienced only the computer presentations. Results suggest that after such tutorial experience, students reached diagnoses quicker, displayed less rigid history taking, and were more responsive to the information they gathered.