Some Correct Strategies Are Better than Others: Individual Differences in Strategy Evaluations Are Related to Strategy Adoption

Autor/inn/en	Menendez, David; Brown, Sarah A.; Alibali, Martha W.
Titel	Some Correct Strategies Are Better than Others: Individual Differences in Strategy Evaluations Are Related to Strategy Adoption
Quelle	In: Cognitive Science, 47 (2023) 3, (30 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Menendez, David)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0364-0213
DOI	10.1111/cogs.13269
Schlagwörter	Individual Differences; Problem Solving; Learning Strategies; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Undergraduate Students; Calculus; Difficulty Level; Predictor Variables; Spatial Ability; Visualization + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Individueller Unterschied; Problemlösen; Learning methode; Learning techniques; Lernmethode; Lernstrategie; Analysis; Differenzialrechnung; Infinitesimalrechnung; Integralrechnung; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Prädiktor; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Visualisation; Visualisierung
Abstract	Why do people shift their strategies for solving problems? Past work has focused on the roles of contextual and individual factors in explaining whether people adopt new strategies when they are exposed to them. In this study, we examined a factor not considered in prior work: people's evaluations of the strategies themselves. We presented undergraduate participants from a moderately selective university (N = 252; 64.8% women, 65.6% White, 67.6% who had taken calculus) with two strategies for solving algebraic word problems and asked them to rate these strategies and their own strategy on a variety of dimensions. Participants' ratings loaded onto two factors, which we label "quality" and "difficulty." Participants' initial evaluations of the "quality" of the strategies were associated with whether they used the strategies at posttest, and this effect held even when controlling for individual and contextual factors. However, people's evaluations of the "difficulty" of the strategies were not consistently associated with their later adoption of those strategies. We also examined individual and contextual predictors of strategy ratings and strategy adoption. Participants' need for cognition and their spatial visualization ability were associated with their strategy evaluations, and the framing of the story problems was associated with their strategy adoption. The findings highlight that strategy adoption depends on multiple interacting factors, and that to understand strategy change, it is critical to examine how people evaluate strategies. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01