International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract—Ill-structured problems are defined as having vague goals that permit multiple solution paths. Solving ill-structured problems requires domain-specific knowledge as well as structural knowledge. Domain-specific knowledge is content knowledge consisting of cognitive components such as propositional information, concepts, rules, and principles.This article focuses on how to promote ill-structured problems solving. Using maps may solve ill-structured problems associated with visualizing information structure. Activities have been found to be effective in facilitating ill-structured problems-solving processes.Metacognition plays a key role in solving it. Advance organizers will promote connections between prior knowledge and the to-be-learned ill-structured problems in e-learning. It is necessary to reduce extraneous cognitive load caused by interactivity.

Index Terms—Ill-structured problems, concept maps, meta-cognition, advance organizers, cognitive load.

Jianzhen Chen and Xiaoping Li are with the Beijing Institute of Technology and Tianjin University of Technology and Education, China (e-mail: jzhen22@126.com).

[PDF]

Cite: Jianzhen Chen and Xiaoping Li, "Research on Solving Ill-Structured Problems for e-Learning: Cognitive Perspectives," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 5, no. 12, pp. 920-923, 2015.