THE EXTENT OF STRATEGIES IN STUDYING

AND THE COMPUTATIONAL SKILLS

OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to the College of Art and Sciences Education
University of Mindanao

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

In English 201: Expository Writing
SY 2017-2018

Alcuizar, Kamille Jun C.

Camilo, Klyde T.
Esperon, Hezekia S.
Moises, Jerald C.
Oliverio, Diosa C.

October 2017
 ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Title Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables

CHAPTER
1 PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background of the study

Statement of the Problem

Hypothesis of the Study

Review of Related Literature

Study Habits

Reading Books

Watching Tutorial Videos

Mathematical Skills

Computational Skills

Analytical Skills

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background of the Study

Engineering has the objective to build, invent, innovate, design, and improve

structures, machines, tools, systems, components, materials, process, solutions, and

organizations by the use of Mathematics along scientific, economic, social, and practical

knowledge. With this in mind, it is then a prerequisite that Engineering students must

have the mathematical and analytical skills to aid them in almost of their subjects. They

must be able to comprehend easily and be able to solve Math problems. In line with

this, Engineering students must know how to improve or develop their computational

skills for their full utilization.

In the top five of the skills an Engineer must have, in the number one spot is the

STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) skills/knowledge. Students must

learn to possess STEM which is a series of qualifications under the core foundation of

any Engineering course. These are shortly followed by the analytical skill. With these,

there is a strong need to strengthen the abilities of the students in their mathematical

and analytical skills.

As we all know, each individual has different level of comprehension which varies

depending on the capacity of the brain to understand things. It is said that the human

brain is complicated to the point that it can only learn new things when it is exposed to

the appropriate and correct factors. In this research, we will be able to attain the
objective of knowing what should be the strategies that these factors are referring to.

We want to know on what should be the brain be exposed to so that it can fully grasp

the ideas presented or in this case, the information needed for the development of the

mathematical and analytical skills every Engineering student must be fully equipped

with. For the purpose of this study, we will only focus on two strategies which are

reading materials and watching tutorials. This study aims to solve the question of which

of the two strategies of learning, reading or watching videos, is more effective in

improving the skills mentioned.

As cited by Ford (2011) in his article says that different brain processes are

required when one reads articles and watching videos. In reading, this requires us to be

actively involved. When reading, the brain gives more effort and this process as well

requires longer attention span and deeper cognitive efforts.

On the other hand, the brain processes videos 60,000 faster than text. The

cognitive system exerts more effort when reading texts. Humans naturally avoids

demanding cognitive strain, thus this “laziness” will somehow lure us to go with the

option of choosing information which is easy to process versus that process where we

will have to put in much effort.

Considering these and between the traditional way of reading books and printed

materials and down to the modern way of watching tutorial videos and other educational

moving videos, this research aims to know the difference or which is the better method

wherein the students could fully improve their computational skills.

 Our study aims to know which has the higher level of effectiveness between the

traditional way, which is reading materials and the techie way of watching videos or

tutorials. It is a common knowledge that Math problems do not only require simple

reading and easy comprehension. They also require students to fully analyse and apply

the right skills in answering them. In this research, we then want to answer and justify

which is more effective and efficient between these two independent variables and if the

usage of these really has evident impact on the progress and improvement of the

students’ skills.

With regard to the international level, when it comes to mathematical problem

solving tasks in physics, it shows that the algebra-based physics students really perform

poorly on them. Two of these distinct possible reasons for these performances are first;

the students do not have the sufficient mathematical skills which are needed to solve

the problems. Second, the students do not have the knowledge on how to apply the

mathematical skills to the particular problems in Physics. The faculty from the Physics

Department believes that it is the lacking mathematical skills which caused the problem.

Evidence has also been presented suggesting that the source of the error of students is

the failure to apply the mathematical knowledge or they are also having a hard time

interpreting knowledge in physical context. (Tuminaro & Redish, University of Maryland,

College Park, MD 20742).

The United States ranked 27th among the 34 OECD countries in 2012 when it

comes to the performance in Mathematics. In the US, it shows that students have

weaknesses particularly in their performance in Mathematics which demands high

cognitive skills like taking real-life situations and translating them to Mathematical terms

and at the same time interpreting Mathematical aspects in real-world problems.

In the national level, according to the results of the Third International

Mathematics and Science – Repeat (TIMSS-R), Filipino students are still weak in Math

and Science. According to a report by the Department of Science and Technology

(DOST), 6,601 Filipino students ranked 36th in Science and Mathematics tests among

the 38 countries in TIMSS last year. It was revealed that the scores of the Filipino

participants rank way below the average of 489 in both Science and Math tests which

have scores garnered of 349-350.In the field of Mathematics, it showed that students

perform their best in Data Representation, Analysis and Probability but poorest in

Algebra. When TIMMS-R was first conducted in 1995 among 42 countries, it showed

that Philippines ranked 41st in Science and 30th in Mathematics. These are supposedly

essential in the entrance exams to national science high schools. DOST, with these

data, say there are no immediate conclusions as to the reasons behind these low

rankings. Even if the students joined clubs related to these two subjects, this still did not

guarantee Philippines high ratings in the performance when it comes to these subjects.

In a research, the Mathematics performance of students in the NAT, students

were ranked according to their performance. For 91 and above items, there was no

student who reached this level which is labelled above advanced. For the 86-90 items,

only a student got the proficient level. This is .36% of the total. In the Approaching

proficiency level, a percentage of .72% or 2 students had 81-85 items correct in this

level. And lastly, for the pre- basic, it showed that a large portion of the totality of the
takers have poor performance in Mathematics. 273 students or 98.91 percent of 276

students comprised this percentage. This may be due to the lack of interest or they

have poor study habits and may be easily discouraged when it comes to numbers.

In the local scene, specifically in Davao del Sur, students did not escape having

low performance in Mathematics. This has been observed based on the results of

examinations which evaluated their capacity in this subject. One of the weakest subjects

is Mathematics in the 2006 National Achievement Test and Division Achievement Test

(Angco, 2007). Every educator has now the imperative need to know and identify the

variables which may contribute positively to the performance of the students. They also

have to know the tools for them to able to predict the trend of students' performance in

Mathematics subject. They are doing this since they have the belief that the

performance of the students measures the quality of education that they provide.

At the moment, there have been a lot of researches and studies conducted which

show that the performance of the students in Mathematics declines over time. There

have been already different researches, books published, teaching methods which

aimed to decrease the percentage of poor performance of the students when it comes

to their outlook and performance toward Mathematics. But then, it cannot be denied that

despite all the efforts made there is still that trend showing the students’ low

performance in this subject.

The society cannot also pinpoint out that it is the problem of the teachers’

competence nor the effectiveness of the materials that they use in teaching which cause

the problem since it is not really the totality which suffers this dilemma. So maybe it
should also be considered that the reason behind the problem is the way the students

study or find ways to learn this subject. It may be that to some students, reading books

or manuals is effective for them but then that method is not applicable to the others. It

should be considered that some students may improve through other ways of learning

or studying. The researchers of this study aim to know which then is more effective

between reading materials and manuals and watching videos or tutorials.

Letting the students know and making them aware on which is more effective

and efficient will equip them in the future and will prepare them when they will enter

college. College life is all about the survival of the fittest. That is the time that you will

have to depend on your own knowledge and techniques for most of the time, the basic

information will not be given anymore. It is best that the students’ foundation in

Mathematics must already be solid so that they will have an easy time understanding

the discussions. This study also aims to help administrators of the Engineering

Department so that they will have the knowledge on how will they improve the students’

Mathematical skills so that there will be a high passing rate in the Engineering Licensure

Exam. This is also conducted so that the teachers will research more on the right

techniques that they will use and so that their effort in teaching will not be gone to

waste. Finally, the researchers yearn to help students know which strategy they should

use for them to able to maximize their capacity when it comes to their skills in

Mathematics. And same goes to other fellow researchers who also want to know the

reasons and probable solutions to improve the mathematical skills of a student.

Because of all the reasons above, the researchers are fully driven to study which is

more effective between reading books and manuals and watching videos and tutorials
which will improve the Mathematical skills of our fellow engineering students of the

University of Mindanao.

Statement of the Problem

The study will be conducted in order to find out the relationship between the

extent of strategies in studying and the computational skills of Engineering students.

Specifically, it will seek to answer to the following questions:

1. What is the extent of the strategies in studying in terms of:

1.1 Reading books

1.2 Watching tutorial videos?

2. What is the level of the computational skill of Engineering students in terms

of:

2.1 Solving skills,

2.2 Analytical skills?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the extent of strategies in

studying and the computational skills of the Engineering students?

Hypothesis of the Study

The study will be tested with the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1. There is no significant relationship between the extent of strategies in

studying and the computational skills of the Engineering students.

Review of Related Literature

Readings and other pertinent information are presented in this section. This is to

establish a clear framework of the concepts and principles of the variables under study.

It is divided according to the variables, study habits and computational skills. While it is

further divided according to its indicators respectively.

Study Habits

“How habits are developed in us and how finally our whole personality is

influenced by our habits and concludes that everything we are is the result of habit”

quoted by Swamy Vivekananda.

Learning “How to Study” can be one of the best investments of your time in terms

of preparing to go back to school or improving your grades while you are in school.  The

best part is that anyone that truly wants to improve their learning process can do so by

following a few basic principles of time management, organization and prioritization. 

Base on the study by Dalby, H. (2013) there are effective study habits for college

students that want to improve their GPA (grade point average) or make sure they start

their academic career off on the right foot note. One of which is to dedicate a specific

time and place to study and having a set place and time to study. Research by Centura

College (2017) Students who don’t practice this technique tend to be more stressed

about homework and studying because they are never sure how or where they are

going to study.  Often, they also won’t know if they will have enough time to complete

the assignments and review the material. It shows that having a set time and place to
study alleviates all of those “stressors” and allows you to focus on the material you need

to cover.

According to Grohol, J. (2016) there are a lot of effective study habits but

studying smarter can be learned to improve your ability to better retain reading material.

These habits include approaching study with the right attitude, choosing the right

environment, minimizing distractions, setting a realistic schedule, and employing

memory games, among others. Students grapple with many issues in their lives, and

because of all of the competing things for your attention, it’s hard to concentrate on

studying. And yet if you’re in school, you have to do at least a little studying in order to

progress from year to year. The key to effective studying isn’t cramming or studying

longer, but studying smarter.

The study process can be more productive, if learners are taught specific skills

and techniques, which will formalize the study process and there by make it more

efficient. Nagaraju, M.T.V. (2007) said that the term study skill is taken to include the

learner’s ability to plan, organize and implement his own study. In traditional sense

study skills would be tolls through which the student acquires subject knowledge. In

additional Nagaraju, M.T.V. (2007) said study skills are defined as those techniques

such as summarizing, note taking, outlining or locating material which learners employ

to assist themselves in the efficient learning of the material at hand.

The general topic of this research is about the study habits of Engineering

students and it is important to know that there are many different styles of learning and

each person will retain information better in different ways. In the book created by Blue
Mango Learning System (2015), visual learners learn best when pictures, images, and

spatial understanding is used. Auditory learners prefer using music, sounds or both.

Kinesthetic learners prefer a more physical style of learning through using the body,

sense of touch and hands. Logical learners desire to use reasoning, logic and systems.

Verbal learners will prefer using words in writing and speech. Social learners will prefer

to learn with other people or in groups. Solitary learners are able to learn best alone.

Once you have figured out which style of learning works best for you, it will help you

determine how to study, where to study, when to study and other important factors like

what study aids you should use and be aware of, and knowing what things may distract

you while you are trying to study.

Study skills and habits have long been considered to be important variables in

the academic success or failure of students at the school level. While some students

are able to breeze through school with minimal effort, this is the exception. The vast

majority of successful students achieve their success by developing and applying

effective study habits. On one of the articles that Becton, L (2017) wrote there are 10

study habits you need to practice. So if you want to become a successful student, don't

get discouraged, don't give up, just work to develop each of the study habits below and

you'll see your grades go up, your knowledge increase, and your ability to learn and

assimilate information improve.

Study skills are fundamental to academic competence. Effective study skills are

associated with positive out comes across multiple academic content areas and for

diverse learners. Research from the Central Michigan University that successful
students have good study habits. They apply these habits to all of their classes. One of

the few study habits are Reading Books and Watching Tutorial videos.

Reading Books. Reading habits are well planned and deliberate pattern of study

which has attained a form of consistency on the part of students toward understanding

academic subjects and passing at examinations. Reading habits determine the

academic achievements of students to a great extent. Both reading and academic

achievements are interrelated and dependent on each other. Students often come from

different environments and localities with different levels of academic achievement.

Therefore, they differ in the pattern of reading habits. While some students have good

reading habits, others tend to exhibit poor reading habits. Academic achievement

means how much knowledge the individual has acquired from the school (Bashir &

Mattoo, 2012).

A creative and pragmatic education involves the habit of personal investigation.

The act of personal investigation requires self-study to be followed by self-thinking and

analysis. Self-study, otherwise referred to as reading at one’s own accord, requires a

habit, which is known as reading habit. Reading makes way for a better understanding

of one’s own experiences and it can be an exciting voyage to self-discovery. “Reading

habit is best formed at a young impressionable age in school, but once formed it can

last one’s life time (Green, 2010).

Reading and academic achievement are essential for research workers and

educationists to know that every child whether he or she is gifted, average, normal or

backward etc, should be educated in his or her own way but if he or she possesses
good study habits, he or she can perform well in academics and in every situation. It is

the reading habits, which help the learner in obtaining meaningful and desirable

knowledge. Good reading habits act as a strong weapon for the students to excel in life

(Bashir & Mattoo, 2012).

According to Palani (2012), reading habit is an essential and important aspect for

creating a literate society in this world. It shapes the personality of individuals and it

helps them to develop proper thinking methods, and creates new ideas. However, the

developments in the Mass Media had continued to influence interest in reading (hard

copy of literatures such as…) books, magazines and journals, among others. Palani

(2012) is of the opinion that, effective reading is important avenue of effective learning

and reading is interrelated with the total educational process and hence, educational

success requires successful reading habit. He believes reading is the identification of

the symbols and the association of appropriate meaning with them. It requires

identification and comprehension. Comprehension skills help the learner to understand

the meaning of words in isolation and in context. Before the advent of the television,

both the young and the old found enough time to read. Apart from teachers, other

professionals used to spend their leisure time in reading both English and vernacular

literature. English medium schools almost always demanded extra reading from their

students. But all these have become a thing of the past. Palani (2012) further added

that, nowadays, reading habit has lost its importance as both the young and the old are

glued to the television. As far as educational institutions are concerned, coaching

students for the examinations seems to be the be-all and end-all of our educational

system.
 Many students in school who read do not absorb or understand much of what

they read; this leads to poor understanding of the subject matter, hence to poor grades

or even failure. Often learners can read, but they do not comprehend what they are

reading. Learners with poor reading skills are handicapped in learning process

(Dawood,T.G., 2014) Reading is much more than just knowing how to read. It is killed

and complex process. Reading is a very important skill that every learner should

master.

Reading has a lot of benefits especially for students and according to Kawasaki,

G (2014) There is 6 Benefits of reading: It increases verbal/writing skills; Helps

articulate thoughts; Enhances problem solving; Increases concentration; Improves

memory and Reading improves the relaxation response, lowering heartbeat and pulse

rate.

Reading is an essential tool for knowledge transfer and the habit of reading is an

academic activity that increases skills in reading strategies. It is an intellectual action,

which is possible only if a man forms a habit of reading and practices these from

childhood. Reading habits, therefore, play a very crucial role in enabling a person to

achieve practical efficiency. “Laws die but books never.” Indeed, books are the most

suitable medium through which knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation

(Issa et al, 2012).

Guthrie, Benneth & McGough, (2007) believe that “reading” is the act of getting

meaning from printed or written words, which is the basis for learning and one of the

most important skills in everyday life. (Issa et al 2012) further explain that reading is
usually associated with books as only the written words provide a complete picture of

the act of reading. It means that through reading, the individual is able to build or fix

things, enjoy stories, discover what others believe and develop ideas or beliefs of their

own. Thus, reading provides the key to all forms of information necessary for our day-to-

day survival and growth.

Watching Tutorial Videos. Over the past few years, videos are being widely

used in classrooms for supporting a teacher’s curriculum and helping students learn the

material faster than ever. A research in Philadephia by Bergwall,T (2015) shows that

94% of the teachers have effectively used videos during the academic year and they

have found video learning quite effective, it is even better than teaching students

through traditional textbooks. Furthermore according to Bergwall, T. (2015) Majority of

part of the human brain is devoted towards processing the visual information. Brain

responds to visuals fast, better than text or any other kind of learning material.

Remembering stuff from the picture is retained in the mind for a longer time. Through

videos, students get to process information fast. Thus, video learning is better than book

learning. Video learning created a sense of presence, which supports the cognitive as

well as social presence. All these components are critical for successful learning. So

now, videos have been recognized as a powerful tool for learning in classrooms.

Lectures are conducted using video tutorials to make the learning process fun, effective,

responsive and fruitful. That’s why even students look for videos to do self-study without

asking for anyone’s help.

 In some cases, video can be as good as an instructor in communicating facts or

demonstrating procedures to assist in mastery learning where a student can view

complex clinical or mechanical procedures as many times as they need to. Furthermore,

the interactive features of modern web-based media players can be used to promote

‘active viewing’ approaches with students (Galbraith, 2014).

More recently, Willmot et al (2012) show that there is strong evidence that digital

video reporting can inspire and engage students when incorporated into student

centered learning activities through: increased student motivation, enhanced learning

experience, higher marks, development potential for deeper learning of the subject,

development of learner autonomy, enhanced team working and communication skills, a

source of evidence relating to skills for interviews, learning resources for future cohorts

to use, opportunities for staff development and authentic learning opportunities.

The work of Kearney and colleagues show the benefits of using video to produce

authentic learning opportunities for students (Kearney and Campbell 2010; Kearney and

Schuck, 2006), and how ‘ivideos’ encourage academic rigor from an advocacy,

research based perspective.

According to the research by Kaltura, that is recently published in the

inaugural State of Video in Education report in which more than 500 educational

professionals from across 300 institutions unanimously agreed that video has the

potential to create a real impact on education. Respondents — who ranged from senior

administration leaders to instructional design professionals — noted that video can:

  Change the way students learn

 Boost attendance

 Create stronger alumni relations

 Increase the chances for success

 Influence learning outcomes and the overall student experience

One respondent went as far as to say teachers will “have to” produce multimedia

instructional content in order to bridge the gap between online and offline meetings.

Some of the study’s other major findings:

 81 percent of respondents agree that online learning will grow in

prominence and underpin the award of a large number of degrees going

forward

 52 percent state video use has been driven from the ‘bottom up’ by faculty

 49 percent estimate a typical student watches six to 20 education videos

per month

In 2013, the flipped classroom made its way into the education video scene. In

fact, 57 percent agree that flipped classrooms will become a standard teaching method

in higher education; with 48 percent saying their institutions already practice such. But

in 2014, subscription-based education is being considered, too. Responses are

consistent with recent advances in virtual education and distant learning, and there is

already a big leap toward virtual education. On the student side of things, video may be

the best way to improve learning styles, especially when it comes to remembering key

facts and figures. Forrester Research estimates one minute of online video equates to
approximately 1.8 million written words. In addition, 90 percent of information

transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the

brain than text. This indicates visual education aids like video can improve learning

styles and increase the rate at which we retain information.

Kageyama, N. (2015) said that while studying the effects of observational

practice or “learning by watching” for a number of decades. There are ranges of

variables that influence the effectiveness of this practice strategy, but the general

consensus seems to be that while physical practice is obviously best, observational

practice is definitely better than no practice at all. And it seems (not unlike mental

practice), that physical practice plus observational practice is better than physical

practice alone.

Through watching videos and discussing them with the members of their

community, children learn much about the structure of narrative and visual

representation. It is for this reason that is it is important for teachers to recognize the

significance of the child’s pre-school experience of videos and not regard it as a less

valuable than traditional school-based literacy practices. (Hilton, M. 2014)

Computational skills may for some people refer to the basic way for finding an

answer for arithmetic problems, be it addition, subtraction, multiplications, or division.

And to others, the way of getting an answers not only to mathematical problems but

also logical problem, who according to Amy Harris of Demand for Media and Great

Lakes Brewing News (2010), can be carried out not only by human but also by

calculator, and or computers.

 Over the past years, math education has done by hand system of measurement

up until calculation done by calculators or computers. And Nowadays, technology has

undertaken the world industry. Different software has been developed to solve industrial

problems and issue to come up with brilliant plans. Famous for this software are

simulation software that for example can determine how much weigh a certain bridge

can withstand if applied by certain amount of force and or how much materials are

needed to withstand that force, etc. But in school, you don’t get to compute the answer

using this software. You don’t get to have the maximum weigh a bridge can withstand

before it will give up under a certain stress using this software. Most school will have

you get the answers by basics computational calculation.

Engineering is one of those degrees that has to deal with several computational

problems, mathematical and logical. Engineers generally think of themselves as

problem solvers. And most of the times they don’t get to use computer to solve the

problems for them. Yes, they sometimes going to use calculators to walk them through

and get the answer but logical way of how you arrive with that answer truly depends on

their computational skills.

As Tom Loveless (2017) concluded in his report for National Research Council,

that mastery of basic mathematical operations, including computational skills, was

obligatory for solving more complicated mathematical problems. Site this example from

a simple physics question wherein it asks the mass and weight of an astronaut in the

moon. “An astronaut weighs 730 N in Houston, Texas, where the local acceleration

gravity is g = 9.792 m s -2. What are the astronaut’s mass and weight in the moon,
where gravity g = 1.67 m s -2?” (J. M. Smith, H. C. Van Ness, M. M. Abbott Introduction to

Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, 7th Edition).

Most computation solve by Engineering students are word or context - base

solving which is exactly similar to the question above. According to the research

conducted by Christopher Duling, the most common practices in teaching physics and

other related engineering course is problem-based learning. In which according to

Charles and Lester’s(1982,) statement: “a problem is a task for which the person

confronting it wants or needs to find a solution; the person has no readily available

procedure for finding the solution; and the person must make an attempt to find a

solution.”

Duling indicated that this is a wide accepted practice in engineering disciplines

that require application of wide knowledge as oppose to rote learning (Darmofal, 2001).

An appealing technique because it focuses in engineering discipline - specific learning

and improves general problem solving skills.

Heller, 1992, describe the general characteristics of word or context rich

problems. It follows a short – story typed format and are rotted in real world situation

that provide rational for conducting analysis and it doesn’t state the unknown variables

needed to be solved. Context word problem requires more analytical efforts to solve the

problem than what we have been taught in regular Mathematics, Physics and some

engineering text.
 For you to get the answer for the question above is you need to have the two

computational skills, the analytical skills and solving skills.

First thing you need to do is to analyze and evaluate the problems, and the

computational skill use for this is your Analytical Thinking skill. Having analytical skills

is the ability to research and analyses, critique and synthesize information in order to

resolve a question or problem. In 1999, Richards J. Heuer Jr., explained that: “Thinking

analytically is a skill like carpentry or driving a car. It can be taught, it can be learned,

and it can improve with practice. But like many other skills, such as riding a bike, it is not

learned by sitting in a classroom and being told how to do it. Analysts learn by doing.”

[ISBN 1 929 667-00-0].

According to Prof. S.R. Shankapal of MS Ramaiah University of Applied

Sciences. to perform analysis, an analyst needs to understand: what problem he/she

needs to solve; what kind of answers he/she is trying to find by solving the problem;

present information available about the problem; sources of information; reliability of

information; interrelationships- the rules/laws governing the problem; problem

formulation, complexity of the problem; problem solving methodologies and

complexities, and representation of solutions to find answers to the questions posed

earlier etc. Thus, it is obvious that, an analyst must have good knowledge and

understanding of basic sciences and mathematical sciences and should have the ability

to gather data, model data, use of modern tools and techniques to solve the model,

represent data, analyses data and draw conclusions with evidences.

 He even provided the summary of analytical skills and it is as follows

• Analytical skills are the ability to visualize, gather information, articulate,

analyses, solve complex problems, and make decisions

• Analytical skills are essential in the workplace to ensure necessary problem

solving occurs to keep productivity and other areas of the workforce

functioning smoothly

• It helps you assess where you stand in your business and where you want to

be in the future

• To find out a solution to a problem and guide the organization towards growth

and success

• Through this analytical and decision-making skills, a manager can develop a

plan of action towards a problem and likewise gather information on how to

effectively solve the crisis

• Analytical skills also ensures understanding of benefits, costs and risks factors

associated with each decision a person makes at his life/workplace

Going back to the problem presented above taken out of Chemical Engineering

Thermodynamics, you need to analyze and evaluate what steps are necessary for you

in order to know maybe why they might weigh differently. Will you gather some data that

is out of the question to get an answer to what you have analyze and evaluated? Are

you going to visualize how could a man weighs different from the moon? And are you
going to use complex mathematical equation to get the answer for the asked question?

Analytical skill in other word is simply running through to the presented data and

asking simply what is going on.

The way to get the answer for the question above clearly doesn’t stop after you

analyze what information and or data are presented. After you have come up with

decision of simply what is going on you need to find a way to get the answer. Aside from

Analytical Skills, as an engineering student you also need to honed your problem

Solving skills.

Solving skills or Problem Solving skills is a way of getting or arriving to the

answer that has been asked to the question. This skill is needed as most engineering

student are dealing with question that needs to be answered. As most question

presented to engineering student are the possible things that will happen. An engineer

can’t simply leave the question unanswered or a problem unresolved.

To clear things first, problem solving skills doesn’t concentrate on Mathematical

problem or problem that has been presented to engineers. Problem solving skill can

also be applied different fields or areas that need to have an answers that require

shallow or deep analyzation. As Van Merrienboer and Jeroen (2013) investigated,

problem solving should not be limited to well-structured problem but should be extended

to real life problem solving.

Each of us solves problems every day, from simply getting the best way to arrive

on time to our rooms for classes, or even deciding which outfit will make you more
comfortable today. Mayer (1977) has reviewed research on thinking and problem

solving and concludes that a problem has givens, goals, and obstacles. The given state

is the current fact, situation, or condition. The goal state is a different, more valued fact,

situation or condition. The obstacles are the difficulties that must be surmounted before

the given state can be changed. The operations that will convert the current state to the

goal state are the solution to the problem. This conception is quite abstract, but is very

serviceable for our needs. The Highest form of problem solving though can be found in

the work relatively that of scientist, engineers, writers, artists, and thinkers who are at

the forefront of work in their fields. As these examples may also suggest, virtually all of

us would like to improve our problem-solving skills, to become more effective and

efficient in dealing with the simple and difficult problems we face each day. If it were

possible to identify particular strategies or skills that were effective in solving problems,

it might be possible to learn them.

Before getting into the qualities of having this skills, it is useful to review issues

with student learning especially with problem - based learning as most engineering are

presented with this type of teaching. Resnik, L.B., ed. (1987) describes problem solving

by students as manipulation of symbols and equations, with very little understanding of

the underlying concepts and meanings. Schoenfeld, A.H. (1988) stated that “Most

textbooks present “problems” that can be solved without thinking about the underlying

mathematics, but by blindly applying the procedures that have just been studied.

Indeed, typical classroom instruction subverts understanding even further by providing

methods for solving problems that allow students to answer problems correctly, without

making an attempt to understand them.” Woods, D. R. (1987). notes that during a four-
year degree program, Engineering students observe professors work 1000 example

problems, or more, and the students themselves solve more than 3000 problems.

However, Woods25 reported that the students “show negligible improvement” in problem

solving skills--meaning that “if they were given a related but different problem situation,

they were not able to bring any new thinking or process skills to bear.” However, Woods

reported that the students “show negligible improvement” in problem solving skills--

meaning that “if they were given a related but different problem situation, they were not

able to bring any new thinking or process skills to bear.”

Although Engineering students learned various ways in solving problem – base

questions and occasionally used them in attacking various mathematical problems, they

had great difficulty in applying them consistently even though there are vast of problem

solving strategies. Gordon, 1961, and Rubenstein, 1980, describe general strategies in

engineering and other technical fields. Larkin (1980) has described problem-solving in

physics. Medical problem solving has a literature of its own, Elstein, Schulman, &

Sprafka, made their own review for this strategy. Some of the most pertinent research

has been conducted by Christensen-Syalanski & Bushyhead. The field that has devoted

the greatest attention to problem-solving strategies is mathematics conducted by Lesh,

Mierkiwicz, & Kantowski (1979) and Krulisk & Reys (1980). Stemming from the original

work by Polya (1957), there is a vast literature on problem-solving strategies,

characteristics of problems and teaching for problem solving. Although the evidence on

the extent to which problem-solving can be taught encourages humility, this research

has identified various skills that are important, and which appear to have sufficient

generality as to apply across fields.

 Suydam (1980), proposes the following elements in problem solving by drawing

writers to brought their individual perspective to bear.

1. Understanding the problem -- an awareness of the problem situation that

stimulates the person to generate a statement of the problem in writing,

orally, or merely in thought.

2. Planning how to solve the problem:

a) Break down the components; enumerate data; isolate the

unknown.

b) Recall information from memory; associate salient features with

promising solution procedures.

c) Formulate hypotheses or a general idea of how to proceed.

3. Solving the problem:

a) Transform the problem statement into a mathematical form, or

construct representations of the problem situation.

b) Analyze the statement into sub - problems for which the solution is

more immediate.

c) Find a provisional solution.

4. Reviewing the problem and the solution:

a) Check the solution against the problem.

b) Verify whether the solution is correct; if not, reject the hypotheses, the method

of solution, or the provisional solution.

 c) Ascertain an alternative method of solution

A lot of studies as well has been conducted regarding problem solving in order to

come with certain strategies in different types of areas and fields. Fernandez, Anthony

and Kochler (2011) experimented on mathematics teachers circle around problem

solving. Math teachers’ circles were developed with the aim of establishing a culture of

problem solving among middle school mathematics teachers. The culture could then be

carried back into these teachers’ classrooms. Sunitha (2004) made a study on

effectiveness of problem solving approach on achievements and problem solving ability

at higher secondary level. It is concluded that the problem solving approach is more

effective than the conventional text book approach. Basile et al. (2003) in their study

explored problem based learning as a dimension that adds context and framework to

coaching & reflection. Implication from the study suggested that problem based learning

is a valid process for the enculturation of teacher candidates to schools and to the

profession of teaching. Mestre (1993) experimented for promoting skilled problem

solving behavior among beginning physics students. For that beginning students were

constrained to analyze mechanics problem according to a hierarchical scheme that

integrated concepts, principles and procedures. Students increased their reliance on the

use of principles in categorizing problems according to similarity of solution and in

writing qualitative explanations of physical situations. In a study Faux (1992)

investigated the extent of relationship among creative thinking, critical thinking,

intelligence and problem solving ability. It was found that critical thinking and

intelligence have relation with problem solving ability. Penner and Voss (1983)

compared the problem solving processes of experts and non-experts and the results
indicated that experts did not use a one solution process, rather, their processes

differed with respect to problem decomposition into sub problems and in the way they

chose to represent the problem statement. Sivadasan and Rajagopalan (1982)

compared problem solving approach with text book approach in student achievement in

high school science and reported that the problem solving approach seems to be better

than text book approach in realizing the objectives, knowledge and skills in problem

solving only. But the text book approach is found superior for the attainment of the

objective comprehension.

Although Suydam may have come out with an element for a strategy in problem

solving and a lot of studies has been conducted, it requires years of practice to be an

expert in problem solving, hence inconsistent application of this skills.

Theoretical Framework

When we hear the word intelligence, the concept of IQ testing may immediately

come to mind. Gardner first outlined his first theory in his 1983 book Frames of Mind:

The Theory of Multiple Intelligence, where he suggested that all people have different

kinds of “intelligence”. One of his proposed intelligence was the Logical- Mathematical

Intelligence. Where people who are strong in logical-mathematical intelligence are good

at reasoning, recognizing patterns and logically analyze problems.

The Gestalt psychologist (Kohler and others) also developed a new learning

which is known as Theory of Insight. With this theory, Chaulan (1987) identified some

characteristics of insightful learning as follows: survey of a problematic situation;

hesitation; pause; attitude of trial or a mode of response; trial of other responses if the

initial mode of response is not adequate. He stated that the students are partially free

from their dependence on concrete materials actually before them. They can think in

abstract terms. The structure and organization of the subject matter plays an important

role in learning.

The Bandura’s Social Learning Theory stated that people learned from one

another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often called a bridge

between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention,

memory, and motivation. He believed that the requirement for learning model is by

observing such model. The observer acquired the response of model through what

Bandura (1977) called cognitive coding of the observed event. He asserted that learning

occurs in the use of models in the two phases, acquisition and performance. Acquisition

is the first stage in which action of the models is initially acquired by the observer, the

observer acquire images and representations of the model, which is then stored in the

memory. One of his 3 basic models of observational learning was symbolic model,

which includes demonstrating via movies, books, television, online media, and other

media resources.