Exploring the Solution Generation Process in the Problem-Solving Phase followed by Instruction: How Do Learners Perceive their Knowledge Gaps?

Abstract

This study investigates how the awareness of knowledge gaps (AKG) manifests by observing the problem-solving phase in PS-I(problem-solving followed by instruction). Comprehensively exploring the discourses of learners in this phase while seeking to categorize knowledge states around AKG will strengthen the underlying mechanism of PS-I. Understanding how AKG manifests will help pave the way for further research on how various knowledge states influence the effectiveness of PS-I, facilitating the design of appropriate instructional interventions to promote desirable knowledge states. With twelve graduate students as participants, this study qualitatively analyzes conversational discourses of the problem-solving phase and finds that students spend most of their time solving problems and seldom evaluate their thoughts, while only a few express their experience of a knowledge gap. The authors suggest categories of knowledge states around AKG and the distinctive characteristics of each category.