{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/27413"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/27413","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Effects of a Technological Problem Solving Activity on FIRST LEGO League Participants' Problem Solving Style and Performance","abstract":"This study investigated the effects of a technological problem solving activity, specifically the 2004 No Limits FIRST™ LEGO™ League Robotics Challenge, on student participants' problem solving styles and performances. Previous research suggested that problem solving styles and performances could be influenced in children who are developing cognitively. Thirty-six 9-14 year old males and females were selected from officially registered FLL teams in the Virginia Department of Education Regions 6 & 7 of Southwest Virginia. Student participants self-assessed their technological problem solving confidence, approach/avoidance styles, and personal control during said activity three times over an eight week period. Two raters directly observed four dimensions of technological problem solving (problem clarification, developing a design, modeling/prototyping, and evaluating the design solution) at four points during the same eight-week time frame. Simple ANOVA, Repeated Measures ANOVA, MANOVA, Regression Analyses, and Qualitative Analyses were used to analyze the data. Female FLL student participants aged 9-14 perceived their overall technological problem solving style no differently than did 9-14 year old males. Gender alone showed no significant differences in performance; however, without any formal training or coursework, 9-14 year old FLL student participants showed significant increases in confidence, overall technological problem solving styles, problem clarification, developing a design, evaluating a design solution, and overall technological problem solving performance in only eight weeks.","abstract_html":"This study investigated the effects of a technological problem solving activity, specifically the 2004 No Limits FIRST™ LEGO™ League Robotics Challenge, on student participants&#x27; problem solving styles and performances. Previous research suggested that problem solving styles and performances could be influenced in children who are developing cognitively. Thirty-six 9-14 year old males and females were selected from officially registered FLL teams in the Virginia Department of Education Regions 6 &amp; 7 of Southwest Virginia. Student participants self-assessed their technological problem solving confidence, approach/avoidance styles, and personal control during said activity three times over an eight week period. Two raters directly observed four dimensions of technological problem solving (problem clarification, developing a design, modeling/prototyping, and evaluating the design solution) at four points during the same eight-week time frame. Simple ANOVA, Repeated Measures ANOVA, MANOVA, Regression Analyses, and Qualitative Analyses were used to analyze the data. Female FLL student participants aged 9-14 perceived their overall technological problem solving style no differently than did 9-14 year old males. Gender alone showed no significant differences in performance; however, without any formal training or coursework, 9-14 year old FLL student participants showed significant increases in confidence, overall technological problem solving styles, problem clarification, developing a design, evaluating a design solution, and overall technological problem solving performance in only eight weeks.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Varnado, Terri E."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Ph. D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Curriculum and Instruction","degree_department":"Teaching and Learning","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Singh, Kusum","Sanders, Mark E."],"committee_members":["LaPorte, James E.","DePauw, Karen P.","Pendleton, Leslie K."],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-04-08","date_published":"2005-04-08","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:03Z","subjects":["problem solving styles","FIRST LEGO League","experience in technological problem solving","Gender","age","problem solving performance","Technological problem solving"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04282005-101527"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04282005-101527","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27413","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Singh, Kusum","Sanders, Mark E."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["LaPorte, James E.","DePauw, Karen P.","Pendleton, Leslie K."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Teaching and Learning"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Varnado, Terri E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:11:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:11:11Z","2005-04-29"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2005-04-08"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Curriculum and Instruction"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph. 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Previous research suggested that problem solving styles and performances could be influenced in children who are developing cognitively. Thirty-six 9-14 year old males and females were selected from officially registered FLL teams in the Virginia Department of Education Regions 6 & 7 of Southwest Virginia. Student participants self-assessed their technological problem solving confidence, approach/avoidance styles, and personal control during said activity three times over an eight week period. Two raters directly observed four dimensions of technological problem solving (problem clarification, developing a design, modeling/prototyping, and evaluating the design solution) at four points during the same eight-week time frame. Simple ANOVA, Repeated Measures ANOVA, MANOVA, Regression Analyses, and Qualitative Analyses were used to analyze the data. Female FLL student participants aged 9-14 perceived their overall technological problem solving style no differently than did 9-14 year old males. Gender alone showed no significant differences in performance; however, without any formal training or coursework, 9-14 year old FLL student participants showed significant increases in confidence, overall technological problem solving styles, problem clarification, developing a design, evaluating a design solution, and overall technological problem solving performance in only eight weeks."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph. 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