The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem-solving strategies of students as they attempted to find a solution to a technological problem. Ten Grade 7 students, who had received no prior technology education instruction, were formed into single-sex dyads and provided with a design brief from which they designed and made a technological solution. The natural talk between the subjects was transcribed. A description of their designing-in-action was added to the transcript. Actions were coded using an empirically derived scheme grounded in both a general problem-solving model and theoretical models of the design process. Segments coded as designing were analyzed using descriptive statistics. This analysis provided the data for mapping, that is, visually representing the design process used by subjects. / Results showed that novice designers do not design in the way described in textbooks. Their strategy is not linear but highly iterative. Subjects developed their ideas using three-dimensional materials rather than two-dimensional sketches. They were unlikely to generate several possible solutions prior to modelling, but developed solutions serially. The act of modelling stimulated the generation of additional ideas. Evaluation occurred repeatedly throughout their designing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of two problem-solving techniques and two personality variables upon the quantity and self-reported quality of solutions people generated to an ill-structured problem. College students completed the Locus of Control and Need for Cognition Scales and, after having been trained in either brainstorming or a hierarchical problem-solving method, they used their new skill to solve a problem. They also rated their solutions on quality. Subjects in the hierarchical condition produced more solutions than those in brainstorming. Moreover, those in the hierarchical group produced solutions of subjectively higher quality than did the brainstormers. Analyses of the personality variables suggested that as need for cognition increased, people generated more solutions before training. No relationship was found between need for cognition and quality ratings. Locus of control was not related to either quantity or quality. Implications for business are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided. / Department of Psychological Science

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 123-130).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-130). Also available in print.

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