Effects of Topic Familiarity on
Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases

Carlos B. Gómez Ferragud; Joan Josep Solaz- Portolés; Vicente Sanjosé

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases

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Carlos B. Gómez Ferragud ¹ ^* , Joan Josep Solaz- Portolés ², Vicente Sanjosé ²

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¹ Florida Universitaria, ESPAÑA² Universidad de Valencia, ESPAÑA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

We conducted a qualitative research of case studies based on think-aloud protocols. The aim was to carry out in-depth analyse secondary students’ cognitive difficulties appearing in early stages of transfer processes in problem-solving. The task was to relate several source problems to a target problem, in order to solve it effectively. Source and target problems had different Surface and/or Structural similarities. In this paper, the solvers’ high or low Familiarity with the problem stories on transfer processes was also focused on. Two emergent instructional phenomena are described, both associated to specific students’ cognitive obstacles to achieve success in solving the target problem: the ‘Screen effect’ and the ‘Sisyphus effect’. The obstacles were harder for low Familiarity problems.

Keywords

science and mathematics education
problem solving
analogical transfer
surface and structure
familiarity
think-aloud protocols

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 11, Issue 4, 2015, 875-887

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

Publication date: 11 Apr 2015

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How to cite this article

APA

Ferragud, C. B. G., Portolés, J. J. S., & Sanjosé, V. (2015). Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(4), 875-887. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

Vancouver

Ferragud CBG, Portolés JJS, Sanjosé V. Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(4):875-87. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

AMA

Ferragud CBG, Portolés JJS, Sanjosé V. Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2015;11(4), 875-887. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

Chicago

Ferragud, Carlos B. Gómez, Joan Josep Solaz- Portolés, and Vicente Sanjosé. "Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2015 11 no. 4 (2015): 875-887. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

Harvard

Ferragud, C. B. G., Portolés, J. J. S., and Sanjosé, V. (2015). Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 11(4), pp. 875-887. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a

MLA

Ferragud, Carlos B. Gómez et al. "Effects of Topic Familiarity on Analogical Transfer in Problem-Solving: A Think-Aloud Study of Two Singular Cases". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 11, no. 4, 2015, pp. 875-887. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2015.1416a