The Effect of Using an Explicit General Problem Solving Teaching Approach on Elementary Pre-Service Teachers’ Ability to Solve Heat Transfer Problems

Abstract

This study investigate the effectiveness of adding an ‘explicit general problem solving teaching strategy’ (EGPS) to guided inquiry (GI) on pre-service elementary school teachers’ ability to solve heat transfer problems. The pre-service elementary teachers in this study were enrolled in two sections of a chemistry course for pre-service elementary teachers’ at a four year university. One section of this class was taught a treatment method, the explicit general problem solving approach, while the other section was taught using guided inquiry approach. Quantitative data was obtained using a post-test while qualitative data was obtained probing questions. The scores for the two teaching approaches showed no significant difference. Further, qualitative data indicated little difference in the way participants solved their problems regardless of instructional approach. Hence, this study concludes that both EGPS and guided inquiry have comparable effectiveness of teaching problem solving.