Abstract
The goal of the presented study is to investigate the process of students' problem solving. For the study, vocational students in the first year of their study (age 15-16) were chosen.
First, a sample of 139 received a set of chemistry problem tasks. This was carried out at the beginning of the school year 2018, i.e. shortly after these students left lower-secondary schools (compulsory education).
Based on the results, and with respect to their chemistry grade, eight students were selected for the second round of the study with another set of problem tasks. The process was controlled using an eye-tracking device.
Afterwards, retrospective think-aloud supported with an eye-tracking record was used to analyse the students' progress. The results show that majority of the students did not succeed in solving the tasks in the first round.
This either suggests they did not reach the expected level in lower-secondary education, or the indicator tasks were, in spite of them being piloted, too difficult for these students. The chosen method enabled to identify students' limiting problem-solving strategies (guessing, giving up, unfinished reading of the task) or lack of basic knowledge (position of metals in the periodic table of elements, properties of elements based on their position in the periodic table, etc.).
The procedure will be used in the future, as it seems to bring detailed information about the students' problem-solving process. Moreover, learning tasks will be given to the same students with the aim of developing their problem-solving skills.
The result will be later measured with the use of the indicator tasks again.