Categorizing
Problems
Alexander
(in press) proposes a problem classification scheme that positions academic
problems along five continua.
|
Linguistic
|
-------------------- |
Nonlinguistic |
| Well-Structured |
-------------------- |
Ill-Structured |
|
Schooled
|
-------------------- |
Unschooled |
|
Timed
|
-------------------- |
Untimed |
|
Independent
|
-------------------- |
Collaborative |
Given
the pervasiveness of academic problems in the learning environment,
one can benefit from understanding the characteristics of academic problems
for students and for teachers:
For
Students
- Provides a means for thinking about the problem space -
grasping whether the problem likely has one or many solutions or
whether the problem is more numeric than linguistic
-
Facilitates the choice of strategies for solving the problem - depends
on conditional knowledge.
- Encourages students to take calculated risks - the more students
know about academic problems, then the more capable and willing they
may be to engage in calculated risk taking during problem solving..
-
Serves as a basis for more specific self-evaluation and self-assessment
- moves students beyond generalizations and stereotypical thinking
to more specific and appropriate self-assessments.
- Moves thinking beyond global judgments of intellectual or academic
Capabilities - we want learners to appreciate how truly complex problems
and problem solving can be and to abandon their notions that only
certain
kinds of problems and also certain modes of problem solving correspond
to intelligence or brightness
For
Teachers
- Becomes a basis for examining instructional and assessment activities
-
Helps determine if tasks they use in instruction and in assessment
are sufficiently varied.
-
Reduces the likelihood of an epistemological mismatch between
teachers' goals and students' perceptions - teachers can be more specific
in
their communications with students regarding the form of the task
they
are introducing.
- Enriches the language of problem solving that can be used in the
classroom.
-
Prompts review of problem-solving techniques that require explanation
or elaboration.
- Contributes to a more detailed understanding of students' particular
strengths or needs as problem-solvers.
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