Toward a learning environment allowing learner-directed problem practice: Helping problem-solving by using problem simplification

Abstract

A promising way to foster learners’ motivation in problem practice is to allow learners to freely select problems. However, in such a learner-directed problem practice, it becomes difficult to design the methods to help the learners who cannot solve the problems. In this paper, a method which helps the learners solve the problems by themselves by using simplified problems is proposed. This paper describes (1) a definition of the problem simplification, (2) a facility to simplify problems and (3) a method to help learners to solve problems by using the simplified problems. In this help, a learner who cannot solve the original problem is provided a problem which is generated by simplifying the original problem. To solve the simplified problem is useful to make clear what the learner needs to solve the original problem. When the learner cannot solve the simplified problem, the simplified problem is further simplified.