Abstract
An effective practitioner must possess knowledge on how progression in problem solving is brought about, knowledge of the psycho-social processes and knowledge of the underpinning philosophies that enhance effective learning. This chapter presents the various views from the literature on what a ‘problem’ is, highlighting the subjective view of a problem, which depends mostly on the solver’s content knowledge and competence in the problem-solving process. With a focus on ‘well-defined problems’, problem-solving heuristics in physics are discussed, with the role of metacognitive processes emphasised. In addition, the chapter presents a strong argument for grounding the explicit teaching of problem-solving strategies to students within a constructivist paradigm, a paradigm that resonates well with a critical realist philosophical framework. With this approach, collaborative group problem-solving activities are aimed at developing agency and targeting the generative mechanisms that must be triggered to produce a shift in competence and collaboration. A framework which combines the different theoretical perspectives in the context of physics problem-solving is presented at the end of the chapter.
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Mazorodze, R., Reiss, M.J. (2019). What We Know from the Literature. In: Cognitive and Metacognitive Problem-Solving Strategies in Post-16 Physics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24686-0_2
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