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

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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