ABSTRACT
This conference was organized around themes which were identified as underrepresented in research on problem solving (Silver, this volume). My assignment is to describe one of these themes: conceptual analyses of problem-solving performance. What is a conceptual analysis? How is it similar to, and different from, other types of analyses? To answer these questions, I will begin by describing three related types of analyses: task analyses, idea analyses, and analyses of students’ cognitive characteristics. Distinctions that these descriptions generate will then be used to discuss some possible implications of conceptual analyses for problem-solving research and instruction.
