Scaffolding students’ problem-solving processes in an ill-structured task using question prompts and peer interactions

Detangling the Interrelationships Between Self-Regulation and Ill-Structured Problem Solving in Problem-Based Learning

“…Drawing from social cognitive theory, Zimmerman and Campillo (2003) identified three phases of self-regulation during problem-solving processes: forethought (task-analysis and self-motivating beliefs), performance (self-control and self-observation), and self-reflection (self-judgment and selfreaction). These key self-regulation processes were evident in Ge and Land's (2003) study on students working on illstructured problem-solving tasks.…”

“…In summarizing Jonassen's work, Ge andLand (2003, 2004) identified four most distinctive cognitive and metacognitive processes in ill-structured problem solving: (1) problem representation, (2) developing solutions, (3) making justifications and constructing arguments, and (4) monitoring and evaluation (Ge & Land, 2003, 2004Jonassen, 1997). Problem representation involves understanding the problem state and goal state and the path from the initial to the goal state through manipulation of the problem space or schema (Jonassen, 1997).…”

“…As noted above, self-regulation plays an active role in illstructured problem solving in PBL, which requires problem solvers to constantly monitor, evaluate, and regulate their problem-solving processes until a feasible, viable, and defensible solution is reached (Ge & Land, 2003;Lynch, Ashley, Pinkwart, & Aleven, 2009). Self-regulation "is an active, constructive process whereby learners set goals for their learning and then attempt to monitor, regulate, and control their cognition, motivation, and behavior, guided and constrained by their goals and the contextual features in the environment" (Pintrich, 2000, p. 453).…”

“…For each of these processes, Ge andLand (2003, 2004) further specified its cognitive and metacognitive requirements based on Jonassen's (1997) work. Although Ge and Land's (2004) framework has been applied as a conceptual tool to examine the relationships between ill-structured problem solving and other variables such as different types of scaffolds (Bixler & Land, 2010;Bulu & Pedersen, 2010;Wu & Looi, 2012), knowledge integration (Chen & Bradshaw, 2007), and motivation (Song, 2005), it is rather limited due to a lack of clarity regarding the relationships among various cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in ill-structured problem solving. For example, monitoring and evaluation in Ge andLand's (2003, 2004) model should not be a standalone process in illstructured problem solving; similarly, the process of constructing arguments should occur simultaneously during, instead of after, the generation of solutions.…”

“…Literature suggests that self-regulation, an essential component of metacognition, runs through the entire duration of problem solving rather than just operating at the stage of monitoring and evaluation (Zimmerman & Campillo, 2003). Ge and Land's (2003) work was an attempt to understand the interactive relationships between self-regulation and ill-structured problem solving, yet it does not clearly or explicitly address the interrelationships between the two important processes.…”