Analytical problem solving: Potentials and manifestations

Being able to solve problems is a crucially important outcome of almost all domains of education, as well as a requirement for future learning and acheivement. This chapter summarises the results from the cross-curricular analytical problem solving element of the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results from Germany indicated that schools may not be sufficiently exploiting students’ cognitive potential to develop their subject-specific competencies. To investigate this hypothesis and find ways to make use of this potential, the chapter describes research on the cognitive components and the structure of analytical problem-solving competence and its relation to mathematical competence. It concludes with results from two experimental studies aiming to foster students’ mathematical competence by training in analytical problemsolving competence.