Advisor

• Dr. Min Liu

Degree

• Masters

Abstract

This report describes four advanced learners’ interactions with cognitive tools as they solved an ill-structured problem in a hypermedia problem based learning environment designed for middle school science. The advanced learners were graduate students selected from domains including Astronomy, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Psychology. Their problem-solving performance was observed to examine how familiarity of domain knowledge and learning strategies affected their use of cognitive tools and to see if their interactions with these tools revealed any glimpses of expert behavior or characteristics. The implications for this study include a continuing awareness of the conditions that affect learners’ use of cognitive tools when they are embedded in a hypermedia learning environment. Further studies regarding the functions cognitive tools serve and the conditions that compel learners to use them will inform the design of future learning environments that provide students better support for solving illstructured problems.