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Designing and implementing a case-based learning environment for enhancing ill-structured problem solving: classroom management problems for prospective teachers

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Abstract

This design-based research study is aimed at two goals: (1) developing a feasible case-based instructional model that could enhance college students’ ill-structured problem solving abilities, while (2) implementing the model to improve teacher education students’ real-world problem solving abilities to deal with dilemmas faced by practicing teachers in elementary classrooms. To achieve these goals, an online case-based learning environment for classroom management problem solving (CBL-CMPS) was developed based on Jonassen’s (in: Reigeluth (ed.) Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, 1999) constructivist learning environment model and the general process of ill-structured problem solving (1997). Two successive studies, in which the effectiveness of the CBL-CMPS was tested while the CBL-CMPS was revised, showed that the individual components of the CBL-CMPS promoted ill-structured problem solving abilities respectively, and that the CBL-CMPS as a whole learning environment was effective to a degree for the transfer of learning in ill-structured problem solving. The potential, challenge, and implications of the CBL-CMPS are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

Part of this study was supported by a Learning Technologies Grant offered by the Office of Instructional Support and Development (OISD) at The University of Georgia. The authors wish to thank Yi-Chun Hong and Jungsoon Choi for their assistance in data analysis. The assistance of Saif Altalib, Yun-Shuang Chang, Christa Harrelson, Ron Braxley, Vincent Argentina, and David Millians on the development of the CBL-CMPS system and the audio cases is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are extended to Drs. Janette Hill, Seock-Ho Kim, and Thomas Reeves for their thoughtful feedback on an earlier version of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, The University of Georgia, 604 Aderhold Hall, Athens, GA, 30602-7144, USA

    Ikseon Choi

  2. Department of Elementary and Social Studies Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Kyunghwa Lee

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  1. Ikseon Choi
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  2. Kyunghwa Lee
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Correspondence to Ikseon Choi.

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An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago, IL (April, 2007).

Appendix A

Appendix A

Table 6 A sample of a student’s answer for the pretest and posttest from Study 2
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Choi, I., Lee, K. Designing and implementing a case-based learning environment for enhancing ill-structured problem solving: classroom management problems for prospective teachers. Education Tech Research Dev 57, 99–129 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-008-9089-2

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