Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases

Abstract

We conducted a qualitative research of case studies based on think-aloud protocols. The aim was to carry out in-depth analyse secondary students' cognitive difficulties appearing in early stages of transfer processes in problem-solving. The task was to relate several source problems to a target problem, in order to solve it effectively. Source and target problems had different Surface and/or Structural similarities. In this paper, the solvers' high or low Familiarity with the problem stories on transfer processes was also focused on. Two emergent instructional phenomena are described, both associated to specific students' cognitive obstacles to achieve success in solving the target problem: the 'Screen effect' and the 'Sisyphus effect'. The obstacles were harder for low Familiarity problems.

The potential of cognitive think-aloud protocols for educational action-research

“…However, many reports reporting think-aloud studies actually rely extensively on evidence from interviews or observation, or have investigated problem-solving involving dialogue between peers. Gomez Ferragud et al (2015) interviewed their subjects when investigating retrospective recall by paired learners. Millis (2012) studied thinking-aloud dialogue between learners as a form of active learning.…”

Factors Affecting Users‟ Measure of Interest: A Study of the Effect of Task, Document Difficulty and Document Familiarity

“…They developed a model that can predict domain experts based on how they search for information. Gómez Ferragud, Solaz-Portolé s and Sanjosé [41] research also found a difference between expert and novice problemsolving ability. Liu, Liu and Belkin [6] affirm that users with different level of topic familiarity differ in their search behaviour.…”

Bahan Ajar Geometri Analitik Berbasis Geogebra dan Kreativitas Belajar: Dapatkah Meningkatkan Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah?

“…Mahasiswa akan merasa kesulitan jika diberi permasalahan yang berbeda dari contoh yang diberikan oleh dosen. Siswa merasa kesulitan untuk menyaring permasalahan lain yang prosedur pemecahannya seharusnya berbeda dari permasalahan yang dicontohkan guru (Ferragud, Solaz-Portolés, & Sanjosé, 2015). Mahasiswa yang masuk di Program Studi Pendidikan Matematika harus paham dengan baik materi pada mata kuliah Geometri Analitik.…”