We conducted a qualitative research of case studies based on think-aloud protocols. The aim was to carry out in-depth analyse secondary students' cognitive difficulties appearing in early stages of transfer processes in problem-solving. The task was to relate several source problems to a target problem, in order to solve it effectively. Source and…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking processes and…

The purpose of this research was to understand fifth grade children's cognitive behavior as they wrote, solved and then, in small groups, shared original math story problems. Research questions examined children's: (1) beliefs about math in this problem-writing classroom, (2) math story problem-writing behavior, (3) difficulties with their…