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This study employed a 2x2 (Generative Activities by Navigational Activities) post-test only research design in examining learning while using a hypertext system in a linear, navigational, linear generative, or navigational generative format. Participants were 43 undergraduate students. In the first experiment, participants were assigned to one of the four conditions and expected to learn the information to solve a posed problem, while students in the second experiment learned the information to pass a reading comprehension test. Results from the first experiment revealed that students in the navigational condition outperformed those in the linear condition with respect to their problem solving score. While there was no significant difference between generative and non-generative conditions, the study found that there was an interaction indicating that generative activity may inhibit navigational hypertext systems in problem solving. The second experiment revealed significant differences between generative and non-generative conditions. While no significant difference between linear and navigational conditions with respect to reading comprehension scores was found, learners' reading comprehension raw score and dwell time revealed that learners assigned the linear conditions outperformed those assigned navigational conditions; this effect was canceled by dwell time in the final analysis. In both experiments the computerized text used was identical. (Contains 44 references.) (MES)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: use of word information cues by beginning readers; the relationship between problem solving and oral reading strategies; the ease with which children learn different logographic systems; the effects of adjunct questions, humor, and various learning modes on learning and retention; conceptual tempo and oral reading performance; the relationship of deep structure recovery to reading comprehension; children's ability to make inferences from written and oral material; the contributions of inference and discrimination processes to false recognition of sentences; initial consonant phoneme-grapheme correspondence errors; effects of different error types and of method of presentation of material on comprehension; the relation between syntactic form and familarity of content to reading comprehension; readers' perceptions of the reading process and of their own reading strategies; relationships between quality of oral reading errors and oral syntactic development; readers' use of contextual clues; and subvocalization during the silent reading process. (GW)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: use of word information cues by beginning readers; the relationship between problem solving and oral reading strategies; the ease with which children learn different logographic systems; the effects of adjunct questions, humor, and various learning modes on learning and retention; conceptual tempo and oral reading performance; the relationship of deep structure recovery to reading comprehension; children's ability to make inferences from written and oral material; the contributions of inference and discrimination processes to false recognition of sentences; initial consonant phoneme-grapheme correspondence errors; effects of different error types and of method of presentation of material on comprehension; the relation between syntactic form and familarity of content to reading comprehension; readers' perceptions of the reading process and of their own reading strategies; relationships between quality of oral reading errors and oral syntactic development; readers' use of contextual clues; and subvocalization during the silent reading process. (GW)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: use of word information cues by beginning readers; the relationship between problem solving and oral reading strategies; the ease with which children learn different logographic systems; the effects of adjunct questions, humor, and various learning modes on learning and retention; conceptual tempo and oral reading performance; the relationship of deep structure recovery to reading comprehension; children's ability to make inferences from written and oral material; the contributions of inference and discrimination processes to false recognition of sentences; initial consonant phoneme-grapheme correspondence errors; effects of different error types and of method of presentation of material on comprehension; the relation between syntactic form and familarity of content to reading comprehension; readers' perceptions of the reading process and of their own reading strategies; relationships between quality of oral reading errors and oral syntactic development; readers' use of contextual clues; and subvocalization during the silent reading process. (GW)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: use of word information cues by beginning readers; the relationship between problem solving and oral reading strategies; the ease with which children learn different logographic systems; the effects of adjunct questions, humor, and various learning modes on learning and retention; conceptual tempo and oral reading performance; the relationship of deep structure recovery to reading comprehension; children's ability to make inferences from written and oral material; the contributions of inference and discrimination processes to false recognition of sentences; initial consonant phoneme-grapheme correspondence errors; effects of different error types and of method of presentation of material on comprehension; the relation between syntactic form and familarity of content to reading comprehension; readers' perceptions of the reading process and of their own reading strategies; relationships between quality of oral reading errors and oral syntactic development; readers' use of contextual clues; and subvocalization during the silent reading process. (GW)

v, 325 pages : 23 cm

v, 325 pages : 23 cm

As increasingly younger children exhibit spiraling social behavior problems, researchers are focusing on the role of family dynamics in these problems. For this study, investigators explored the relationship between problem-solving skills and verbal comprehension in children from distressed families. Twenty-nine children, ages 4 to 8, completed the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving (PIPS) Test, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Revised (PPVT-R), and provided solutions to a contrived problem. Results indicate that children from homes with distressed and abusive parents, exhibit a strong, positive relationship between verbal comprehension and the ability to generate solutions to interpersonal problems. However, verbal comprehension did not affect either the quality of children's responses or their actual behavioral choices in a real-life problem situation. It seems that verbal comprehension is related to children's ability to verbally generate solutions to interpersonal problems, but verbal comprehension does not appear to mediate the quality of their solutions. Furthermore, when challenged with a peer problem involving a desired object, older and younger children are equally likely to choose an aggressive solution. These findings suggest that intervention strategies for behavior problems in elementary-school-age children should first consider building their verbal comprehension. (RJM)

A study assessed third- through sixth-grade children's comprehension of selected problem-solving segments from SQUARE ONE TV. A sample of 140 children, equally distributed among the four grades, with 49% girls and 51% boys, and an ethnic composition of 56% White, 22% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 3% other, and 3% other, were randomly assigned to viewing groups of three students of the same sex. Each group was shown two segments separated by a 5- or 6-week interval and assessed afterwards in a group interview for their ability to remember mathematically relevant information, understand the mathematical concepts and problem-solving principles, and extend the relevant concepts to new problem-solving situations. In addition, children were asked to describe their feelings upon reaching the solution of the problem and to recall as much as possible about previously viewed segments. Data analyses suggested the following conclusions: (1) segments' problem-solving content appeared to be accessible to children throughout the target age range; (2) satisfactory response rates began at 65% for third-graders and increased with age, indicating age-appropriateness of the segments; (3) children were able to extend problem-solving principles to new situations; (4) the segments provided motivating context for mathematical "happy,""glad," and/or "proud" suggested that SQUARE ONE TV characters serve as positive role models for problem solving. (MDH)

A study assessed third- through sixth-grade children's comprehension of selected problem-solving segments from SQUARE ONE TV. A sample of 140 children, equally distributed among the four grades, with 49% girls and 51% boys, and an ethnic composition of 56% White, 22% Black, 19% Hispanic, and 3% other, and 3% other, were randomly assigned to viewing groups of three students of the same sex. Each group was shown two segments separated by a 5- or 6-week interval and assessed afterwards in a group interview for their ability to remember mathematically relevant information, understand the mathematical concepts and problem-solving principles, and extend the relevant concepts to new problem-solving situations. In addition, children were asked to describe their feelings upon reaching the solution of the problem and to recall as much as possible about previously viewed segments. Data analyses suggested the following conclusions: (1) segments' problem-solving content appeared to be accessible to children throughout the target age range; (2) satisfactory response rates began at 65% for third-graders and increased with age, indicating age-appropriateness of the segments; (3) children were able to extend problem-solving principles to new situations; (4) the segments provided motivating context for mathematical "happy,""glad," and/or "proud" suggested that SQUARE ONE TV characters serve as positive role models for problem solving. (MDH)

In this study, the effect of fluent reading (speed, reading accuracy percentage, prosodic reading), comprehension (literal comprehension, inferential comprehension) and problem solving strategies on classifying students with high and low problem solving success was researched. The sampling of the research is composed of 279 students at elementary school 4 th grade. In the research, in order to figure out reading accuracy percentage and reading rate, 5 scales were used: a reading text, prosodic reading scale, literal comprehension scale, inferential comprehension scale and problem solving scale. In order to see the effect of fluent reading and comprehension skills on classifying students with high and low problem solving success, logistic analysis was conducted while discriminant analysis was conducted to determine the effect of problem solving skills. At the end of the study, it was seen that fluent reading skills had no effect on classifying students according to their problem solving success. It was concluded that both comprehension skills are 77% effective in classifying problem solving success, but inferential comprehension is more effective than literal comprehension. It was found that problem solving strategies were effective on classifying students with high and low problem solving success problem at 88% level; that the most important factors while classifying were estimation and control, systematic listing, looking for a pattern and drawing figures and diagrams respectively; and that backward-studying strategies were inadequate in classifying successful and unsuccessful students. At the end of the study, mathematical sentence writing strategy appeared to be the most important strategy in classifying students with high and low problem solving success, but it had a negative correlation. In other words, a rise in the usage rate of this strategy increased the likelihood for individuals to be in the group with low problem solving success.

Problem-solving is one of the core components of 21st-century skills and an essential skill for living in a dynamic contemporary society. It is a complex process guided by specific goals that requires mental representation of the problem situations (Jonassen, 1997, 2000). Solving a problem involves a series of processes, beginning with defining the problems through information gathering and processing. It allows new concepts to emerge and provide a basis for idea generation (Mumford, 1991). The formulation of a solution is believed to require creative thought involving a series of interactive processes. Individuals who have high creativity are expected to produce more original and diverse solutions (Puccio et al., 2020). Once the solutions are generated, the next steps involve implementing these ideas and subsequently monitoring and evaluating the implementation process (Mumford et al., 2019). In higher education, acquiring problem-solving skills is essential for students to help them adapt in their community and workplace (Hiremath, 2015). As the degree of available information and access to data is increasing, the ability to interpret information, communicate ideas, and solve problems becomes essential in today’s communities (Danaher & Schoepp, 2020). However, fostering students’ problem solving is a challenge that requires the identification of various (meta)cognitive, motivational, personal, and social factors (Aşık & Erktin, 2019; Luo et al., 2019; Tasgin & Dilek, 2023; Van Hooijdonk et al., 2023). Recent studies have revealed a connection between metacognition and problem-solving (Kim et al., 2013; Liu & Liu, 2020; Urban & Urban, 2023, 2024). Metacognition can be understood as knowledge and regulation of cognition (Schraw & Moshman, 1995). It is composed of metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive skills (i.e., planning, monitoring, regulation and evaluation; Ekflides, 2006). Metacognitive knowledge helps problem solvers to identify and represent given problems, while metacognitive skills benefit problem solvers in identifying the nature of these problems, selecting appropriate plans, overcoming obstacles, monitoring their progress, and evaluating solutions (Davidson & Sternberg, 1998). Importantly, the influence of metacognition on problem-solving can manifest directly or indirectly. This dual impact is tied to its associations with other factors, such as cognitive processes, that also contribute to supporting effective problem-solving. Metacognitive judgments and predictive cues of individual performance are connected to domain knowledge (Griffin et al., 2009), which serves as a prominent predictor of problem solving (Shin et al., 2003). Solving problems (ill-structured and well-structured) requires domain knowledge organized around learning experiences. A deeper understanding of the content is required, i.e., information from the text must be elaborated and incorporated into previous knowledge to generate mental representation of the problems and estimated solution (Whitten & Graeser, 2003). Additionally, self-efficacy, defined as the belief of one’s ability to perform a task within a specific domain (Bandura, 1997) serves as a motivational factor connected to problem-solving performance (Artistico, et al. 2003). Self-efficacy is shown to be correlated to background knowledge (Pajares, 2003; Pajares & Miller, 1994) and metacognitive awareness (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). Thus, in connection to problem solving, the role of self efficacy may vary. Solheim (2011) found that individuals with higher reading self-efficacy perform well in reading comprehension tasks, as reading comprehension activates the mental process for problem representation (Marmolejo-Ramos & Cevasco, 2013). Moreover, creative self-efficacy showed positive influence in divergent thinking (originality and fluency) (Puente-Díaz & Cavazos-Arroyo, 2017). Meanwhile, divergent thinking is associated with the stage of problem discovery (Runko & Okuda, 1988; Wigert et al., 2022) and idea generation (Runko, 2010; Vincent et al., 2010) during problem solving. The process of problem-solving is likely to be influenced by coordinated interactions among metacognition, self-efficacy, divergent thinking, and text comprehension. However, existing research has predominantly treated these variables as isolated predictors of problem-solving performance (He & Wong, 2010; Shin, 2003; Vincent et al., 2010), neglecting a thorough examination of their interplay in the problem-solving process. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the relations between metacognition, self-efficacy, divergent thinking, and reading comprehension to elucidate problem-solving performance in university students. The primary goal is to discern the influence of metacognition, self-efficacy, and divergent thinking along with exploring the potential mediating role of reading comprehension in ill-defined problem-solving performance.