Researcher Gets Article Published
Wed Apr 2 2008
Dr. Karen Chen, an educational researcher at the Center for Educational Technologies®, is coauthor of an article published in the recent issue of the Journal of Educational Computing Research.
The article, "Prompting in Web-Based Environments: Supporting Self-Monitoring and Problem Solving Skills in College Students," explored metacognition and how automated instructional support in the form of problem-solving and self-reflection prompts influenced students' capacity to solve complex problems in a web-based learning environment. The authors, Douglas F. Kauffman of Eastern Connecticut State University, Xun Ge of the University of Oklahoma, Kui Xie of Mississippi State University, and Chen of Wheeling Jesuit University, examined the independent and interactive effects of problem-solving prompts and reflection prompts on college students' problem solving and writing within a web-based instructional module. They found that students who received problem-solving prompts solved problems and wrote with more clarity than did students who did not receive problem solving prompts. Reflection prompts also positively influenced problem solving and writing, but only when students also received the problem solving prompts.
The findings suggest that asking student to reflect on their work has a positive influence on students' problem solving, but only when they have clear understanding of what they are being asked to reflect on.
