Enhancing ecological hierarchical problem-solving with domain-specific question agendas

Promoting problem-solving in students is an important aim of secondary science education. There is a mismatch, however, between the complex, ill-structured nature of realistic scientific problems, versus the well-structured problems students are generally confronted with. The current study investigates a teaching-learning strategy that resolves this mismatch by combining a focus on hierarchical problem-solving strategies for complex, authentic problems with the use of domain-specific question agendas that represent scientific perspectives. Three design principles were applied to develop an exemplary lesson series that was implemented in two Dutch pre-university classes. A pre-/post-test research design was followed in which data was collected in the form of sets of student-generated research questions. Additionally, audio recordings of lessons and student interviews were collected and analysed. Results indicate that participating students became more proficient at applying hierarchical problem-solving strategies like (1) reducing complex ecological problems to more manageable subproblems by formulating productive research questions and (2) identifying types of ecological problems by connecting them to domain-specific question agendas (problem-abstraction). A qualitative analysis of the teaching-learning process and student interviews informed potential refinements of the design principles, namely the use of more diverse contexts and a greater focus on collaborative learning.

推动学生问题解决能力的提升是中学科学教育的重要目标。然而，现实科学问题的复杂性和非结构化性质与学生通常遇到的有序问题之间存在不匹配。本研究探讨了一种教学学习策略，通过结合对复杂、真实问题的层级式问题解决策略的重视，以及使用代表科学观点的领域特定问题议程，来解决这个问题的不匹配。在开发了一系列示范课程并应用于两个荷兰预科班的过程中，应用了三项设计原则。采用了一种前/后测试的研究设计，收集了学生生成的研究问题集作为数据。此外，收集并分析了课程音频记录和学生访谈。结果表明，参与的学生在应用层级式问题解决策略方面变得更加熟练，例如（1）通过制定富有成效的研究问题，将复杂的生态问题简化为更易管理的子问题，以及（2）通过将生态问题与领域特定问题议程相连接来识别生态问题的类型（问题抽象）。对教学学习过程和学生访谈的定性分析为设计原则的潜在改进提供了信息，即使用更多样化的背景，并更加重视协作学习。