Elementary Children's Technological Problem Solving: selecting an initial course of action

Abstract

This research focuses on 336 elementary school children's (aged 5‐13 years) responses to an Awareness of Technology Survey question intended to explore how they would begin the technological problem solving process. Survey responses show that some children prefer to begin with guidance from outside sources, while others prefer a more independent start. Preference for some initial course of action is related to the children's perceptions of where useful ideas may lie which would enable them to ‘figure out’ a path forward that could lead to some problem solution. Implications for technological problem solving models include the need to allow lime for this ‘figuring out’ and to incorporate increased flexibility into existing models.