Integrating worked examples into problem posing in a web-based learning environment

Abstract

Most students always lack of experience and perceive difficult regarding problem posing. The study hypothesized that worked examples may have benefits for supporting students’ problem posing activities. A quasi-experiment was conducted in the context of a business mathematics course for examining the effects of integrating worked examples into problem posing activities. A total of 107 undergraduate students at a technology university were invited to join this experiment for six weeks. The problem posing activities were carried out in a web-based learning system. The experimental condition receiving worked examples was compared with a control condition regarding the number, orientation and complexity for indicating problem posing performance. To evaluate students’ problems as objectively as possible, a Problem-Level-Taxonomy was developed in this study. By the independent sample t-test analysis, the results showed that integrating worked examples into problem posing has a significant skills development effect on posing more orientated and complex problems, particularly for analytical problems referring to a learning concept or a formula. Besides, novice students with none experience in problem posing may benefit from the support of worked examples to improve their problem posing skills. The implications and limitations of this study were also discussed.