Project description

Problem-solving prior to instruction (PS-I) is an instructional design that aims to support students’ conceptual learning. It relies on an initial problem-solving phase that functions as a preparation for a subsequent instruction phase. The preparation for future learning is assumed to be rooted in three cognitive mechanisms. One of these mechanisms that tries to explain the effectiveness of PS-I is students’ prior knowledge activation during problem solving. While studies in other fields of research have shown that prior knowledge activation plays an important role for students’ learning, PS-I research lacks consistent empirical support for this. The present project aims to address this research gap and investigate the role of prior knowledge activation for students’ learning in PS-I. We focus on how and to which extend students’ need to activate their prior knowledge when generating or observing solutions to an unknown problem.