Learning contextual factors, student engagement, and problem-solving skills: A Chinese perspective

Although problem-solving skills are considered as key higher order cognitive skills, in the Chinese learning context there are gaps in the literature regarding more comprehensive examinations of which factors are likely to promote university students' creative problem-solving skills. We explored the relationships of the learning contextual factors of higher order learning and effective teaching practices with student rule-oriented, procedural, and intellectual engagement, and the students' problem-solving skills. Participants were 21,584 junior undergraduate students at 10 Chinese universities. Findings indicate that (a) effective teaching practices were the most important determinants in formulating students' problem-solving skills, (b) higher order learning was the strongest predictor of student engagement, and (c) student engagement components mediated the relationship between learning contextual factors and the development of problem-solving skills. The results of an importance–performance map analysis revealed that teachers' constructive feedback to students was a specific weakness in current Chinese teaching practices. Therefore, teachers need to provide students with more timely and facilitative feedback on their academic performance.

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039 Sleep Preferentially Supports Problem-Solving Skills via Greater Functional Connectivity Between the Caudate and Cerebral Cortex

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsab072.038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. A17-A17

Author(s):

Nicholas van den Berg ◽

Dylan Smith ◽

Lydia Fang ◽

Stuart Fogel

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Cognitive Complexity ◽

Rule Learning ◽

Cognitive Strategy ◽

Higher Order ◽

Procedural Skills ◽

Problem Solving Skills ◽

Higher Order Learning

Abstract Introduction Sleep consolidates memory, including newly acquired procedural skills. One putative systems-level mechanism for this function of sleep is via sleep-dependent strengthening of functional connectivity between the putamen and the cortico-hippocampal-striatal-cerebellar network, which supports procedural motor skills. For procedural motor skills that also require problem solving and rule-learning, sleep preferentially benefits the cognitively complex aspects over the motor skills required to execute the solution itself. The caudate is implicated in higher-order cognitive components of skill learning, which include error monitoring and automizing new information. In the current study, we investigated how sleep alters functional connectivity in higher-order learning networks that support problem solving and rule learning-related procedural skills. Methods Participants (n = 38) were trained on a procedural skills task; the Tower of Hanoi (ToH), that requires the acquisition of a novel cognitive strategy (e.g., recursive logic), while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After either a full night of sleep (n=19) or a full day of wakefulness (n=19), participants were retested on the same task in the fMRI. Resting state activity was acquired before (R1) and after the training session (R2), and before the retest session (R3). Results Behavioral performance on the ToH improved following sleep compared to wake (reduced number of errors: t(38)=2.92, p=0.006, d=1.24). Regions associated with higher-order learning and cognitive complexity (i.e., the caudate) and regions typically implicated in sequence learning (i.e., the putamen, hippocampus, cerebellum) were selected as regions of interest (ROI). Increased functional connectivity across the retention interval (R3-R2) was observed in the sleep vs. wake condition between the caudate and the motor cortex (t(36)=3.32, p=0.042, FWE). By contrast, changes in functional connectivity were not observed between the putamen and other ROIs. Conclusion These results suggest that sleep supports improved consolidation of motor skills that involve the acquisition of a novel cognitive strategy. Sleep enhanced functional connectivity in brain areas associated with higher-order cognitive skills (i.e., the caudate), but not regions typically associated with motor skills (i.e., the putamen) that are required to execute the solution to the cognitive procedural skill. Support (if any) Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada

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