Teaching Thinking and Problem Solving: Research Foundations

The goal of effectively teaching reasoning, thinking, and problem solving is now being pursued with new vigor. Research of the past decade provides productive ways of viewing the processes underlying these capabilities and their development. Bransford, Sherwood, Vye, and Rieser focus on two general research approaches. The first derives from studies of individuals who are experts in particular domains and emphasizes the role of domain-specific knowledge. A second emphasizes general strategic and metacognitive knowledge; ideally, people who develop the ability to learn new information and to monitor their current levels of proficiency will be able to function more effectively in a variety of contexts. Bransford and his colleagues conclude that many existing programs that are designed to teach thinking and problem solving involve an emphasis on general skills and strategies in contrast to domain-specific knowledge. They argue that these programs can be strengthened by focusing more explicitly on domain knowledge, especially when students are helped to understand how different ways of learning new knowledge can affect their abilities to solve relevant problems.-The Editors