The Role and Mechanism of Analogical Transfers in Novices' Data Flow Diagram Problem Solving: The Effects of an Explicit Hint and Alternative Training Methods
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2014-01-15
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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The main purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the role of analogical transfers in novices' data flow diagram (DFD) problem solving, in particular, how the uses, processes and types of analogical transfers could be affected by specific types of training methods and by an explicit hint to refer back to a previous DFD problem. The training methods compared were exploration-based and instruction-based training, while giving an explicit hint was intended to facilitate analogical transfers. A conceptual framework was first constructed to synthesize the major research works on analogical reasoning, analogical learning and analogical problem solving, postulating the specific human thought processes involved in analogical problem solving. A laboratory experiment was then performed to investigate the actual thought processes which occurred in analogical problem solving and to test the validity of the conceptual framework. In the experiment, 20 undergraduate business students were trained, in exploration-based or instruction-based training method, to solve a textbook-type DFD problem. These 20 students were then asked to think aloud while they were solving a new, but similar, DFD problem. Ten of the students were also given an explicit hint which encouraged them to refer back to the previously solved DFD problem. Results showed that: (1) Actual analogical transfer processes were very interactive, they could occur simultaneously, and in a non-continuous manner. (2) In the context of novices' DFD problem solving, the major role of analogical transfers was to solve novel DFD problems. (3) The use of an explicit hint had promoted analogical transfers but had not led to better problem solving performance. (4) Different training methods did not influence the number of analogical transfers, but did impact novices' DFD problem solving performances. Instruction-based training method was found to be superior to exploration-based training in terms of its effect on novices' DFD problem solving performance.
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ix, 151 pages
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