ABSTRACT
Studies conducted in cognitive laboratories as well as in other settings suggest ways to facilitate people’s abilities to use relevant knowledge in problem-solving and decision making. Such activities help students understand the nature of the problems that various concepts and procedures were designed to solve, and hence enable them to understand the functional significance of new information. This study presented gifted 4th grade students with “real life” problem-solving content, via videodisc technology, and then asked them to make valid suggestions about how to solve problems posed. Results illustrated that when children are instructed in problem-solving strategies and then presented story information, they are more successful in solving posed problems than children who did not receive training.
