The role of strategy, effort, and unknown attributions in a metacognitive model of mathematical problem-solving.
Item
-
Title
-
The role of strategy, effort, and unknown attributions in a metacognitive model of mathematical problem-solving.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9605594
-
identifier
-
9605594
-
Creator
-
Fusco, Dana R.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Carol Kehr Tittle
-
Date
-
1995
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Education, Educational Psychology | Education, Mathematics
-
Abstract
-
Previous research has documented the importance of metacognition and attributions for performance on memory and visual discrimination tasks, and in reading. The purpose of the present study was to extend this research into the domain of mathematical problem solving. Distinct causal factors, such as the role of strategies, were examined in relation to the types of metacognitive activities that occurred during mathematical problem solving. Thirty ninth-grade students who attributed performance to strategy, effort, or unknown causes on the Attribution Questionnaire for Mathematical Problem Solving were videotaped and asked to verbalize their thoughts as they solved a nonroutine mathematical word problem. Based on an analysis of the videotapes, student protocols were scored for: problem-solving progress; total metacognition; and the metacognitive activities of understanding, analyzing, exploring, planning/implementing, and verifying.;Although there were no differences in overall metacognitive involvement between the three attribution groups, there were differences in the key metacognitive component of exploration. Students who attributed performance to strategy were much more likely to regulate their exploration than those who ascribed to effort or unknown causes, and they were more likely to solve the problem than students from the effort group. Furthermore, students who made dual attributions to strategy and effort were not as likely to regulate their exploration or solve the problem as students who made "pure" strategy attributions.;The results of the study indicate that total metacognitive scores are not as informative as specific metacognitive strategies, depending on the type of mathematical problem used. Successful problem solvers did not necessarily analyze the problem, devise a plan, or verify their solutions. They did have a sound cognitive understanding of the problem and regulated their problem-solving attempts. The results suggest the need: (1) to examine metacognitive activities in relation to the type of problem used; (2) to investigate students' perceptions of "effort" as causal to performance; (3) to investigate the effects of attributional training designed to raise students' awareness of the causal role of strategies; and (4) to examine the effects of combined strategy-effort feedback.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
