The development of problem-solving skills for nonroutine problems with the use of a web-based resource: A case study of constructivist learning

This study investigates how students develop their problem-solving skills for nonroutine problems with the use of a Web-based learning resource. Set in a social constructivist learning environment, the researcher conducted her study using junior high school students of an academically and technically-oriented exclusive private school for boys in Makati City during the second quarter of school year 2002-2003. Phenomenography was employed to describe and explain the students\u27 problem-solving processes, to determine their level of understanding or word problems through the use of a Web-based problem-solving unit, and to assess the on-task activity of the students. The students\u27 attitudes toward problem solving and toward the learning environment were qualitatively analyzed. The study covered a period of four weeks and was conducted during the regular mathematics class hours of the students. The design of the study consisted of the following phases: (1) Orientation, (2) Pretesting, (3) Exposure to Problem-Solving Unit, (4) Posttesting, and (5) Interview. Data for this study were gathered and analyzed through the use of the following instruments: A Web-based problem-solving unit, pretest/posttest nonroutine problem solving sheets, reproduced activity sheets, an observation checklist, a self-report questionnaire, the students\u27 journal, a problem-solving attitude scale, an attitude scale toward the learning environment, and audio-taped interviews. The results of the study show evidence that students have different problem solving goals and orientations. Students\u27 approach and conception to nonroutine problems and problem solving depend much on whether they experience the problem\u27s atomistic/surface structure or its holistic/deep structure. An analysis of the students\u27 approaches and conceptions led the researcher into identifying indicators that manifest students\u27 perception of their levels of understanding within a nonroutine problem-solving context. The result of the phenomenographic analysis of interview transcripts is the set of categories of students\u27 perception of their levels of understanding