Teaching Problem Solving: An Instructional Design Strategy

Abstract

This article provides an outline of an instructional design strategy for improving problemsolving performance in a variety of domains. The strategy emerges from a series of instructional improvement projects undertaken collaboratively by a small team of academics and groups of practicing teachers in eastern Ontario. These projects were stimulated by recent developments in cognitive psychology. The strategy entails the selection of an appropriate domain of problem-solving tasks, the construction of learning hierarchies, the design of teaching methods, the assembly of learning materials, the design of teacher training and the evaluation of instructional interventions. Obstacles to be overcome and directions for future research are identified.