“Problem solving is generally regarded as the most important cognitive activity in everyday and professional contexts.” David H. Jonassen The above quote in Jonassen’s article provides educators with an issue to ponder, especially when the author claims that “...students are rarely, …required to solve meaningful problems as part of curricula.” (Jonassen, pg. 63) To be honest, prior to embarking on this course, I did not think about the “how’s and why’s” of collaboration; being an educator meant that it was something that I did naturally. It was not always easy but was always effective at solving the issue(s) at hand. The question arises as we ponder how to transpose the “art of collaboration” to students within our lessons and curriculum. …show more content…
What role does self-regulation play when we collaborate and develop collaboration skills? What about students with learning disabilities? Jonassen states, “…cognitive task analysis of hundreds of problems has proven …inadequate to accommodate the range and complexity of problem solving outcomes.” (Jonassen, pg. 64) As educators, we form relationships with our students so that the delivery of our lessons are impactful to a range of students, however, we can understand that the individual issues that are experienced by our learners varies. When Jonassen describes a problem as, “an unknown entity” and that the ability to solve the problem “…must have some social, cultural or intellectual value”, we begin to understand that motivation of the student to solve problems is a key factor. Jonassen states that, “Existing problem schemas are the result of previous experiences in solving particular types of problems, enabling learners to proceed directly to the implementation stage of problem-solving and try out the activated solution.” (Jonassen, pg. 66) The dilemma then is how to develop schemas in our learners when they do not value the solving of the problem as important to their lives? …show more content…
The self-efficacy of our students also plays a role in the problem-solving abilities of our students, as Jonassen states, “If problem solvers do not believe in their ability to solve problems, they will most likely not exert sufficient cognitive effort and therefore not succeed.” (Jonassen, pg. 71) For example, I had a student last term who disclosed to me that they were consistently berated at home due to their decision-making skills and therefore felt that they could not be successful in the program. This was having such an effect on the student that even though they had been successful up to this point, they chose to drop out of the program. As educators, I believe we work hard at ensuring the inclusion and success of all our students and indirectly help them to build their self-efficacy but unfortunately, there are some instances when what the student is affected by at home or within the community is too impactful to them. In the article by Spiro and Deschryver they discuss the impact of direct instructional guidance in both well-structured and ill structured domains, which can aid in building schema and self-efficacy in students which in turn may give motivation to students to feel successful