Abstract
Students' performance and the effects of pre-training were studied for tasks rated high in ambiguity, in particular those where the solution to the tasks cannot be arrived at through predictable algorithms. A total of 277 thirteen-year-old students from two urban schools in Singapore were randomly assigned to two groups. One group was provided with instruction for dealing with such tasks in general before performing a series of tasks, while the other group performed the tasks without the instruction. How well the students coped with the ambiguities of the tasks with and without pretraining is reported in this paper.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beasley, W. (1985). Improving student laboratory performance: How much practice makes perfect?Science Education, 69(4), 567–576.
Clough, E. E., & Driver, R. (1986). A study of the consistency in the use of students' conceptual frameworks across different tasks context.Science Education, 70(4), 473–496.
Department of Education and Science. (1987).Assessing investigations at ages 13 and 15. Science report for teachers, No. 9. London: HMSO.
Doyle, W. (1983). Academic work.Review of Educational Research, 53(2), 159–199.
Heim, A. H. (1970).AH4 Group test of general intelligence. London: NFER-Nelson.
Karplus, R. (1977). Science teaching and development of reasoning.Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 4, 169–175.
Lock, R. (1986). Assessment of science practical skills in 15 year olds. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Resnick, L., & Ford, W. (1981).The psychology of mathematics for instruction. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Skurnik, L. S., & Jeffs, P. M. (1970).Science attitude questionnaire. Slough: NFER.
Solomon, J. (1983). Learning about energy: How pupils think in two domains.European Journal of Science Education, 5, 49–59.
Toh, K. A. (1990). A study of the factors affecting students' performance in laboratory investigational work. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Toh, K. A. (1994). Teacher-centred teaching is alive and well.Teaching and Learning, 15(1), 12–17.
Toh, K. A., & Woolnough, B. E. (1990). Assessing, through reporting, the outcomes of scientific investigations.Educational Research, 32(1), 59–65.
Toh, K. A., & Woolnough, B. E. (1994). Science process skills: Are they generalisable?Research in Science & Technological Education, 12(1), 31–42.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Toh, KA., Boo, HK. & Keng-Hoe-Yeo Open-ended investigations: Performance and effects of pre-training. Research in Science Education 27, 131–140 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463037
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02463037