Eleven undergraduate science and non-science majors (novices) and nine genetics graduate students and instructors (experts) were video taped as they solved a group of seven complex classical genetics problems. The interview technique which was modeled after the clinical procedures of H. A. Simon and Piaget encouraged subjects to think aloud with as little interruption as possible. Subjects then performed three Piagetian tasks designed to assess the formal schemes of proportions, combinations, and probability. The goals of the study were: to document the problem-solving performances of subjects, comparing them in terms of expertise, problem-solving success, and cognitive development; to document problem-solving behaviors reported in other domains; and to determine whether or not genetics is a fruitful domain for problem-solving research. / Successful (and moderately successful) subjects shared more distinctive differences from unsuccessful subjects than did experts when compared with novices. In contrast to unsuccessful subjects, successful subjects tended to perceive the problem as a task of analysis and reason; to solve the problem step by step; to use a knowledge-development approach; to use trial-and-error only when the possibilities of more powerful strategies had been exhausted; when using trial-and-error, to select options in view of the knowledge developed from previously unsuccessful trials; to have a better understanding of genetic information; to offer accurate biological explanations of the events involved; to have a store of typical procedures of modeling these events; to perform at a higher cognitive level; to make fewer careless errors; to make comments evidencing planning; to have a broader range of general heuristics and to use them more frequently; to draw an explicit definition key and to consider symbol definition as a transformation (not merely an abbreviation) process; and to use a number of checks on solution accuracy and completeness. Unsuccessful subjects were more likely to produce solutions which were unacceptable in substance and form; to make improper decisions of relevance and importance; to omit necessary work; to do more unnecessary work; and to apply incorrect information. / These observations were used as a basis for modifying current problem-solving theory and to develop a procedural scheme which could serve as a basis for computer modeling of genetics problem solving. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: A, page: 0451. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75038 |
| Contributors | SMITH, MICHAEL ULON., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 314 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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