Csapó Benő, Molnár Gyöngyvér
MTA-SZTE Research Group on the Development of Competencies, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Department of Learning and Instruction, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Front Psychol. 2017 Nov 20;8:2022. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02022. eCollection 2017.
There is a growing demand for assessment instruments which can be used in higher education, which cover a broader area of competencies than the traditional tests for disciplinary knowledge and domain-specific skills, and which measure students' most important general cognitive capabilities. Around the age of the transition from secondary to tertiary education, such assessments may serve several functions, including selecting the best-prepared candidates for certain fields of study. Dynamic problem-solving (DPS) is a good candidate for such a role, as tasks that assess it involve knowledge acquisition and knowledge utilization as well. The purpose of this study is to validate an online DPS test and to explore its potential for assessing students' DPS skills at the beginning of their higher education studies. Participants in the study were first-year students at a major Hungarian university ( = 1468). They took five tests that measured knowledge from their previous studies: Hungarian language and literature, mathematics, history, science and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). A further, sixth test based on the MicroDYN approach, assessed students' DPS skills. A brief questionnaire explored learning strategies and collected data on students' background. The testing took place at the beginning of the first semester in three 2-h sessions. Problem-solving showed relatively strong correlations with mathematics ( = 0.492) and science ( = 0.401), and moderate correlations with EFL ( = 0.227), history ( = 0.192), and Hungarian ( = 0.125). Weak but still significant correlations were found with certain learning strategies, positive correlations with elaboration strategies, and a negative correlation with memorization strategies. Significant differences were observed between male and female students; men performed significantly better in DPS than women. Results indicated the dominant role of the first phase of solving dynamic problems, as knowledge acquisition correlated more strongly with any other variable than knowledge utilization.
对于可用于高等教育的评估工具的需求日益增长，这些工具涵盖的能力领域比传统的学科知识和特定领域技能测试更广泛，并且能够衡量学生最重要的一般认知能力。在从中学教育向高等教育过渡的年龄段左右，此类评估可能具有多种功能，包括为某些研究领域挑选准备最充分的候选人。动态问题解决（DPS）很适合担当这样的角色，因为评估它的任务也涉及知识获取和知识利用。本研究的目的是验证一项在线DPS测试，并探索其在高等教育学习开始时评估学生DPS技能的潜力。该研究的参与者是匈牙利一所主要大学的一年级学生（= 1468人）。他们参加了五项测试，这些测试衡量他们之前学习的知识：匈牙利语言文学、数学、历史、科学以及作为外语的英语（EFL）。另外，基于MicroDYN方法的第六项测试评估了学生的DPS技能。一份简短的问卷探讨了学习策略，并收集了学生背景的数据。测试在第一学期开始时进行，分三个2小时的时段。问题解决能力与数学（= 0.492）和科学（= 0.401）呈现出相对较强的相关性，与EFL（= 0.227）、历史（= 0.192）和匈牙利语（= 0.125）呈现出中等相关性。与某些学习策略发现了较弱但仍显著的相关性，与精细加工策略呈正相关，与记忆策略呈负相关。在男女学生之间观察到了显著差异；男生在DPS方面的表现明显优于女生。结果表明了解决动态问题第一阶段的主导作用，因为知识获取与任何其他变量的相关性比知识利用更强。
