Computer-Based Learning Environments and Problem Solving

by Erik de Corte (Editor), Marcia C. Linn (Editor), Heinz Mandl (Editor)

Most would agree that the acquisition of problem-solving ability is a primary goal of education. The emergence of the new information technologiesin the last ten years has raised high expectations with respect to the possibilities of the computer as an instructional tool for enhancing students' problem-solving skills. This volume is the first to assemble, review, and discuss the theoretical, methodological, and developmental knowledge relating to this topical issue in a multidisciplinary confrontation of highly recommended experts in cognitive science, computer science, educational technology, and instructional psychology. Contributors describe the most recent results and the most advanced methodological approaches relating to the application of the computer for encouraging knowledge construction, stimulating higher-order thinking and problem solving, and creating powerfullearning environments for pursuing those objectives. The computer applications relate to a variety of content domains and age levels.

500 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Erik de Corte is professor emeritus of educational psychology and former director (and co-founder) of the Center for Instructional Psychology and Technology (CIP&T) at the University of Leuven, Belgium, where he received his PhD in educational sciences in 1970. De Corte was the founder and first President (1985-1989) of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), President of the International Academy of Education (1998-2006), and the chair of the HERCulES (Higher Education, Research and Culture in European Society) Expert Group of the Academia Europaea (2009-2017) which assists the Council in developing and managing activities and initiatives of the Academy. De Corte's research centers on learning, teaching and assessment of thinking and problem solving, and the analysis of self-regulation skills, beliefs and emotions, especially in mathematics. At the 7th EARLI Conference in 1997 De Corte was presented with the Oeuvre Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Learning and Instruction" of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, and at the 25th International Congress of Applied Psychology in 2002 with the Award for Outstanding Career Contribution to Educational Psychology. Respectively in 2000 and 2003 he received the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein in South Africa. In 2005-2006 he was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. In 2012 he was elected as member of the Russian Academy of Pedagogical and Social Sciences.