Mr. Rangel asks his students to write an essay describing how they would deal with the problem of the diminishing areas in which gorillas can successfully live in the wild. Three of the following factors should influence his students' ability to describe possible solutions to the problem. Which factor will not influence students' ability to do welleither for the better or for the worseon the essay?
a. Students' anxiety about how well they do on the essay
b. How much students know about the countries in which gorillas reside
c. How carefully students internally monitor their ways of thinking about the problem
d. The number of specific algorithms students have learned for solving problems in other disciplines (e.g., physics, mathematics)
Question 2
Three of the following examples reflect the use of metacognition in problem solving. Which one shows little or no metacognition?
a. When Allan discovers that his homework assignment in social studies involves an especially ill-defined and difficult problem, he realizes that he will have to devote a considerable amount of time to the assignment.
b. Brendan is replacing an old, single-paned window in his home with a new, double-paned window unit. Before he begins to work, he thinks about the steps he will need to take and jots down the tools and materials he will need to purchase.
c. Clyde is working on a series of word problems after a unit on multiplication of two-digit numbers. To complete the task as quickly as possible, he simply multiplies the two numbers he sees in each problem; he doesn't bother to read the problems themselves.
d. When Duncan's chemistry teacher assigns a challenging problem that she wants her students to address in chemistry lab, Duncan feels confident that he has both the knowledge and skills to solve the problem successfully if he works slowly and carefully.