SoTL Commons Conference Presenters
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8.1 – Room 2904
Why Can't They Solve It? Using Protocol Analysis to Unlock Problem Solving Mysteries (pr-1)
Kavita Bhatia (University of Wisconsin - Marshfield/Wood County): kavita.bhatia@uwc.edu
Kirthi Premadasa (University of Wisconsin - Marathon County): kirthi.premadasa@uwc.edu
Protocol Analysis or think alouds are a research tool originally developed by cognitive psychologists for the purpose of studying how people solve problems. The basic idea being that if a subject can be trained to think out loud while completing a certain task, then the introspections can be analyzed and may provide insights into misunderstandings as well as higher thinking and can be used to remove bottlenecks. This talk is a report of a think aloud conducted with calculus students to understand their difficulties with problem solving. A coding scheme developed by the authors based on Pólya's four step problem solving process which was used in the analysis will be discussed. A rubric created for the scoring will also be presented. The process will be demonstrated through a simple activity.