A Case Study on Problem-Solving Based on a Design Process in a Middle School Invention Class

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the process of problem-solving through the design process in an invention class and then to analyze the effects of problem-solving and also to confirm the design process effect on learning achievement.

The subjects of this research consisted of four middle school students in two teams in a class in the gifted program. They met with the researcher as a team and completed assignments over 5 months. In order to analyze the behavior of the students, document analysis, interviews, and observations were conducted during the implementation of the class activities. This study investigated how students execute a design process that resulted from their problem-solving in the course of solving the conditions of the problems, through the process cycle of the performance, and how the upper domain and lower domain of the process influence each other.