Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Problem solving – Juvenile literature'

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1987.
Title from title page screen, viewed July 26, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Ronald J. Fortune (chair), Glenn A. Grever, Elizabeth E. McMahan, Patricia A. Chesebro, Janice Neuleib. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-177) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006.
Title from title page screen, viewed on April 22, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Mark Swerdlik, Matthew Hesson-McInnis (co-chairs), Adena Meyers, Kathryn Hoff, Raymond Redick. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-113) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 86 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-58).

This study examined how the landscape studio has supported scholarly problem-solving pedagogy. Examination was limited to studio-educators’ published pedagogical research on problem-solving topics and on landscape architecture students’ preferences for solving studio-based problems. A unique multi-method research approach was used to assess the scholarly rigor and breadth of 467 academic articles published between 1997 and 2008 in Landscape Journal, Landscape Research, and Landscape Review. Scholarly rigor was assessed using Boyer’s model of scholarship, Cross and Steadman’s multiple scholarships of teaching, Weimer’s scholarly work on teaching and learning, and Groat and Wang’s architectural research methods. Content analysis was used to catalogue the breadth of problem-solving tools, techniques and theories mentioned in the articles. Research questionnaires, one-on-one interviews, focus groups and formal project presentations surveyed students’ problem-solving preferences. Seventy-eight first and final year students at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland and Washington State University, United States participated. Data were tested to determine whether what studio-educators claimed in the articles were supported by landscape students’ preferences for solving studio-based problems. Results found 56 articles possessed characteristics of scholarly work on teaching and learning and advanced problem-solving knowledge. Twenty-two different problem-solving tools, techniques or theories were mentioned in the articles. Students independently reported a preference for using 20 of the 22 problem-solving approaches. Strongly shared approaches involved cultural awareness and site visits. Approaches recommended by educator-authors, but not preferred by students, involved the environment, teamwork and innovation. Further research may be needed to explain these differences. In conclusion, the landscape studio has supported scholarly problem-solving pedagogy through studio-educators’ pedagogical research published in discipline-based journals and students’ preferences for solving studio-based problems. This study is significant in its use of multi-method approaches to examine scholarly research and teaching. In the future, educator-authors may use information contained in this study to strengthen their teaching and scholarship.

The present research explores the possibility of differentiating problem-solving operations generating success and difficulty to spellers at kindergarten and Grade 1. Four kindergarten girls and four kindergarten boys were identified in each of three schools. Two boys and two girls believed by their teachers to be advanced in spelling development and two boys and two girls perceived by their teachers to be delayed in this regard constituted the sample. The Dionne observation table was used to enrich the data collection methodology used by Case by recording, in individual sessions, all verbal and non-verbal operations performed by each of the subjects while attempting the research tasks in June of the kindergarten year, during the first week of February of Grade 1, and during the last week of May of Grade 1. Visual protocols, verbatim transcripts, and photocopies of invented spellings produced provided the experimental data. Based on the literature and on the protocols collected, the researcher constructed coding grids to describe 32 data related operations and 24 cognitive control related operations observed during the invented spellings of the target words. The two grids were used to analyze the invented spelling processes of the 19 subjects for whom there was complete data from all three data collection sessions. Videotapes were replayed as often as required to complete the coding grids. Differences in relative frequency distributions of use of each operation were calculated by ability and gender. Differences in progression over time between three data collection points within a one year time frame were examined for all subjects, for subjects by ability group, and for subjects by gender group. A difference of 25% or more was established as a discerning pattern for the purpose of the research. Strong and weak spellers used the same data related operations when inventing spellings. The sequence in development was the same for both groups, but operations emerged at a faster pace in strong spellers. Patterns of differences by ability were discerned for most consonant, vowel, and meaning related operations. Patterns of differences by gender emerged for only two data related operations--3-consonant blend and -ing ending. Patterns of differences by ability were discerned for some cognitive control operations in all five categories established during coding: Response style, focus of attention, articulation of plan, memory, and automatic production. No patterns of differences by gender were discerned. The Dionne Observation Table offered an elegant elaboration to verbal protocols as a means of interpreting cognitive processes, especially for subjects at the interrelational and early dimensional stages of thought for whom cognitive developmental limitations affect verbal protocol productions. Through the interpretation of cognitive operations made possible by its use, the extent of progress made by weak spellers in both data related and cognitive control related operational use has been underscored. The research opens an avenue for exploration of the extent to which operations can be taught to children in this young age group. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The present study addressed the lack of cognitive assessment instruments in the educational settings of adolescent and young adult students who are incarcerated in juvenile correctional institutions. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a verbal problem solving questionnaire. The design of the Everyday Problem Questionnaire (EPQ) was based on a model and testing method for assessing cognitive development throughout the life-span. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the Everyday Problem Questionnaire was developed from descriptions of everyday life problems that were submitted in writing by 47 randomly-chosen males, aged 18 through 24 years, who were incarcerated in a high security state youth correctional institution. A second group of 25 randomly-chosen students from the same institution, rated the life problems on four criteria: (a) typicality, (b) personal experience, (c) interest level and, (d) level of difficulty. Nine problems were included in the final Everyday Problem Questionnaire. In the second phase, the new Everyday Problem Questionnaire was administered to a group of 54 randomly-chosen late adolescent and young adult males who were incarcerated. Four commonly used measures of cognitive ability and achievement were also administered, the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test, the Test of Non-verbal Intelligence-Two, Second Edition, and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-Revised for reading and mathematics. The Everyday Problem Questionnaire responses were scored by three educators from the institution, who received training on an experimental scoring system that was a model of problem solving that included five steps. The other measurements were scored by a professional school psychologist. In the analyses of the first phase ratings indicated that the EPQ was shown to consist of life problems representative of adolescents and young adult males who have been incarcerated. Subsequent validation of the EPQ scoring system was not successful in the second phase of the study due to inconsistent inter-rater reliability. Consequently, the instrument could not be compared with results on other tests of cognition and achievement. Specific suggestions are made for designing a more reliable and stable scoring system. Issues regarding research and institutional access to students in a high-security youth corrections institutional setting are also discussed.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016.
The purpose of this study was to examine learners’ mathematical word problem solving skills and strategies in Intermediate Phase. The study was prompted by Grade 6 learners’ poor performance in the cognitive area, non-routine mathematical word problems, as revealed in Annual National Assessment reports of 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The study followed action research collaborative method involving 26 Grade 6 learners and their mathematics educator. The school is a rural primary school categorised under quintile two. Problem solving theory by Polya (1957) guided the study in answering three research questions: What are the challenges faced by Grade 6 learners in solving word problems? What are Grade 6 learners’ strategies in solving word problems? How can learners’ problem solving skills and strategies focusing on word problems be improved? Data were collected in a routine structured process: pre-intervention phase, intervention phase and post-intervention phase. Analysis was made through the development of a system of categorisation of learners’ responses. The four principles of problem solving by Polya (1957) namely, the way learners understand the problem, how they devise the plan, how they carry out the plan and the manner in which they look back guided the analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the strategies introduced assisted learners in making sense of the word problems and finally proceeding towards an adequate solution. It was also found out that the learners lacked the ability to read with understanding; the problem being their lack of competence in the language of learning and teaching. The skills which learners also lacked when solving word problems were identified as arithmetic skills and reflective skills.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
心理學研究所
90
Abstract Adolescents at turmoil period have attracted a great deal of public concerns and academic attentions in order to help them to pass through the troubles. Applying Problem-Solving Model, the present study was designed to investigate the possible cognitive mechanism of conduct problems in response to real life events in juvenile delinquencies and normal control. Hence, the results could shed a light on intervention and prevention programs for adolescents with conduct problems. The Problem-Solving Model, proposed by Black and Frauenknecht (1990 & 1994), consists of three major components: (1) Automatic process, i.e., using past experience to help to resolve the problem; (2) Problem Orientation, i.e., trying to use information to formulate the problem; (3) Problem Solving Skill, i.e., using some skills to put into further evaluations and actions once the problem was mentally formed. Previous western research has found the model applicable to studies of conduct problems. In order to build up the reliability and stability of the research tools including Social Problem-Solving Inventory for Adolescents (SPSI-A), Life Experience Inventory, Chinese version of Children Depression Inventory (C-CDI) and Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist, this research used 46 junior high school students in a pilot study. In testing the differences between adolescents with and without conduct problems, three samples were used. The group with conduct problems consisted of 219 boys recruited from probation department of Taipei local juvenile court and juvenile reformatory school; the normal control group consisted of 837 boys from a public high school in Taipei. The results from the pilot study show that research tools have satisfactory psychometric properties so as to ensure reliable utilization in this study. The findings of this study indicated that: (1) there were significant differences of problem-solving efficiency among different groups. In that, the three samples displayed significant differences in Automatic Process and Problem-Solving Skills; (2) according to the regression analysis, the predictors of conduct behaviors included objective academic stress, subjective interpersonal and academics stress, Automatic Process, and Problem-Solving Skills. Besides, Automatic Process and Problem Orientation could predict the depressive mood, and Problem Orientation could predict the severity of somatic symptoms. To sum up, the present study found that adolescents with conduct problems did not lack motivation to reduce their life stress. Rather, they were in need of efficient ways to utilize past experiences, and had a lack of problem solving skills, such as recognition of problems, decision-making, evaluating and monitoring problem solving process. Based on the findings, the cognitive mechanism of conduct problems, life stresses, problem-solving model, research designs and methodological consideration were discussed. Future research in this line and clinical applications were also suggested.

Este estudo, realizado no âmbito da Matemática, mais concretamente, na área da resolução de problemas, tem como principal objetivo compreender o contributo da Literatura Infantil no desenvolvimento da capacidade de resolução de problemas de alunos do 3.º ano de escolaridade. Com o estudo, pretende-se caracterizar as estratégias de resolução de problemas que os alunos mais utilizam, identificar as fases de resolução de problemas, propostas por Polya, que os alunos percorrem, bem como entender a sua perceção face à associação da resolução de problemas a histórias infantis. A revisão da literatura encontra-se dividida em duas secções principais. A primeira secção aborda a resolução de problemas, nomeadamente, o entendimento de tarefa e de problema. Esclarece as fases de resolução de problemas propostas por Polya e algumas das estratégias de resolução mais utilizadas por alunos do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e, por último, aborda a importância da resolução de problemas na aprendizagem da matemática. A segunda secção da revisão da literatura discute o contributo das histórias infantis na resolução de problemas matemáticos. O estudo realizado enquadra-se numa abordagem qualitativa, inserida numa investigação sobre a prática. No estudo, estiveram envolvidos doze alunos do terceiro ano de escolaridade. A recolha de dados foi realizada através de observação participante, recolha documental e inquéritos por questionário. O estudo decorreu durante cerca de semanas. As conclusões do estudo revelam que: (I) o grupo utiliza diversas estratégias para resolver um problema, sendo que a mais utilizada é a adição repetida; (II) na maioria dos problemas, os alunos recorrem apenas às três primeiras fases de resolução propostas por Polya (compreender o problema, pensar numa estratégia de resolução e executar a estratégia); (III) os alunos percecionam que as histórias exploradas contribuíram para a sua capacidade de resolução de problemas.
This study, carried out in Mathematics, specifically in the area of problem solving, has as its main objective to understand the contribution of Children's Literature in the development of problem solving capacity of students of the 3rd grade. The study aims to characterize the problem solving strategies that students use the most, identify the problem solving phases proposed by Polya that students go through, as well as understand their perception regarding the association of problem solving with children’s stories. The literature review is divised into two main sections. The first section deals with problem solving, namely the understanding of task and problem. It clarifies the problem solving stages proposed by Polya and some of the most commonly used solving strategies by students in elementary school and, finally, refers to the importance of problem solving in mathematics learning. The second section of the literature review discuss to the contribution of children's stories in solving mathematical problems. The study is part of a qualitative approach, inserted in an research on the practice. In the study, twelve third year students were involved. Data collection was performed through participant observation, document collection and questionnaire surveys. The study ran for about four weeks. The conclusions of the study reveal that: (I) the class uses several strategies to solve a problem, the most used being the successive addition; (II) in most problems students use only the first three resolution phases proposed by Polya (understanding the problem, thinking of a resolution strategy and executing the strategy); (III) Students realize that the stories explored contributed to their problem-solving ability.

abstract: The critical-thinking skill of problem solving needs to be part of the curriculum for all students, including those with learning disabilities living in poverty; yet, too often this is not the case. Too often students in poverty and students with learning disabilities are provided a curriculum that is watered down, focused on the basics, and aimed at managing their behaviors instead of helping them learn to think critically about their world. Despite their challenges, these students can learn to problem solve. Educators need to help students make connections between the critical-thinking skills learned in school and the problem-solving skills needed for life. One solution might be to use literature with characters facing similar problems, hold grand conversations, and teach them a problem solving method. Together, these three parts have the potential to motivate and lead students to better thinking. This action research study explored whether literature with characters facing similar problems to the study's participants, grand conversations, and the I SOLVE problem solving method would help students with disabilities living in poverty in the Southwestern United States develop the problem-solving skills they need to understand and successfully navigate their world. Data were collected using a mixed methods approach. The Motivation to Read Profile, I SOLVE problem-solving survey, thought bubbles, student journals, transcripts from grand conversations, and researcher's journal were tools used. To understand fully how and to what extent literature and grand conversations helped students gain the critical thinking skill of problem solving, data were mixed in a convergence model. Results show the I SOLVE problem-solving method was an effective way to teach problem-solving steps. Scores on the problem-solving survey rose pre- to post-test. Grand conversations focused on literature with character's facing problems led to an increase in students' motivation to read, and this population of students were able to make aesthetic connections and interpretations to the texts read. From these findings implications for teachers are provided.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012