The Effects of a Technological Problem Solving Activity on FIRST LEGO League Participants' Problem Solving Style and Performance

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dc.contributor.authorVarnado, Terri E.en
dc.contributor.committeecochairSingh, Kusumen
dc.contributor.committeecochairSanders, Mark E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberLaPorte, James E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberDePauw, Karen P.en
dc.contributor.committeememberPendleton, Leslie K.en
dc.contributor.departmentTeaching and Learningen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:11:11Zen
dc.date.adate2005-04-29en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:11:11Zen
dc.date.issued2005-04-08en
dc.date.rdate2005-04-29en
dc.date.sdate2005-04-28en
dc.description.abstractThis study investigated the effects of a technological problem solving activity, specifically the 2004 No Limits FIRST™ LEGO™ League Robotics Challenge, on student participants' problem solving styles and performances. Previous research suggested that problem solving styles and performances could be influenced in children who are developing cognitively. Thirty-six 9-14 year old males and females were selected from officially registered FLL teams in the Virginia Department of Education Regions 6 & 7 of Southwest Virginia. Student participants self-assessed their technological problem solving confidence, approach/avoidance styles, and personal control during said activity three times over an eight week period. Two raters directly observed four dimensions of technological problem solving (problem clarification, developing a design, modeling/prototyping, and evaluating the design solution) at four points during the same eight-week time frame. Simple ANOVA, Repeated Measures ANOVA, MANOVA, Regression Analyses, and Qualitative Analyses were used to analyze the data. Female FLL student participants aged 9-14 perceived their overall technological problem solving style no differently than did 9-14 year old males. Gender alone showed no significant differences in performance; however, without any formal training or coursework, 9-14 year old FLL student participants showed significant increases in confidence, overall technological problem solving styles, problem clarification, developing a design, evaluating a design solution, and overall technological problem solving performance in only eight weeks.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.identifier.otheretd-04282005-101527en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-04282005-101527/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/27413en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartvarnado.dissertation.4.28.05.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectproblem solving stylesen
dc.subjectFIRST LEGO Leagueen
dc.subjectexperience in technological problem solvingen
dc.subjectGenderen
dc.subjectageen
dc.subjectproblem solving performanceen
dc.subjectTechnological problem solvingen
dc.titleThe Effects of a Technological Problem Solving Activity on FIRST LEGO League Participants' Problem Solving Style and Performanceen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineCurriculum and Instructionen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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