Bridge over troubled water: Creating effective online support for the metacognitive aspects of problem solving

In the context of higher education, the development of students' problem solving skills continues to be an area of much ongoing research. Effective teaching of problem solving requires the adoption of process-based approaches that reveal to students the ways that experts solve problems, and the coaching of students in higher order and metacognitive skills that lead them away from a preoccupation with finding solutions and towards building up a repertoire of problem solving strategies. It is suggested that online environments and computer resources can scaffold the acquisition of domain knowledge and systematic problem solving skills. This article acknowledges that there are multiple ways to support complex problem solving, and that online environments hold great promise in creating effective instructional interactions. This study focuses on the metacognitivc aspects of problem solving and more particularly on those aspects of technology-based scaffolding that support reflection, process support, and the anchoring of skills to domain knowledge.