Keywords
educational assessment
qualitative methods
early mathematical reasoning
problem solving
How to Cite
Abstract
This study aims to describe and illustrate the Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) as a method that encompasses diverse qualitative data analysis techniques to characterize cognitive activity underlying individuals’ performance while solving a task, and to characterize the task itself. Methodological approaches included first, a documentary review of recognized CTA models, from both psychological and educational perspectives. Such models have been used to analyze cognitive, thought and decision-making processes implied in problem-solving situations. Second, an adaptation and application of the CTA method were undertaken to analyze tasks in psychology and education; specifically, to assess early mathematical abilities within school learning environments. Results illustrate three methodological CTA levels: (a) analysis of task structure, (b) analysis of cognitive demand across potential levels of performance, and (c) in-depth analysis of performance. It is concluded that this adaptation makes the CTA method affordable to both psychologists and practitioners within educational assessment contexts.
Bryant, P., & Nuñes, T. (2014). Children’s understanding of mathematics. In U. Goswami (Ed.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development (2nd ed., pp. 549-573). Oxford, OX: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444325485.ch21
Clark, R. E. (2014). Cognitive task analysis for expert-based instruction in healthcare. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen & M. J. Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (4th ed., pp. 541-551). New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/I0.1007/978- 1-4614-3185-5_42
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2014). Learning and teaching early math: The learning trajectories approach. New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203520574
Confrey, J., Maloney, A. P., & Corley, A. K. (2014). Learning trajectories: A framework for connecting standards with curriculum. ZMD The International Journal of Mathematics Education, 46(5), 719-733. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-014-0598-7
Geary, D. C., Hoard, M. K., Byrd-Craven, J., & DeSoto, M. C. (2004). Strategy choices in simple and complex addition: Contributions of working memory and counting knowledge for children with mathematical disability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(2), 121-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2004.03.002
Hoffman, R., & Militello, L. (2014). Perspectives on cognitive task analysis: Historical origins and modern communities of practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
Luria, A., & Tsvetkova, L. (1981). La resolución de problemas y sus trastornos. Barcelona: Fontanella.
Malafouris, L. (2013). How things shape the mind: A theory of material engagement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9476.001.0001
Newell, A., & Simon, H. (1972). Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Orozco, M. (2000). El análisis de tareas: Cómo utilizarlo en la enseñanza de la matemática en primaria. Revista EMA, 5(2), 139-151. Retrieved from http://funes.uniandes.edu.co/1108/1/64_Hormaza2000El_RevEMA.pdf
Orozco, M., Ochoa, S., & Sánchez, H. (2002). Prácticas culturales para la educación de la niñez. Universidad del Valle & Fundación Antonio Restrepo Barco. Cali, Colombia: Panamericana Formas e Impresos S. A.
Otálora, Y. (2018). Desarrollo de principios conceptuales sobre diseño de ambientes de aprendizaje para el acceso inclusivo al pensamiento en STEM –Ciencias, Tecnologías, Ingenierías & Matemáticas– en escuelas y museos (Proyecto de investigación no publicado). Cali, Colombia: Universidad del Valle.
Pascual-Leone, J., & Johnson, J. (1991). The psychological unit and its role in task analysis: A reinterpretation of object permanence. In M. Chandler & M. Chapman (Eds.), Criteria for competence: Controversies in the conceptualization and assessment of children´s abilities (pp. 151-187). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Resnick, L. B. (1975). Task analysis in instructional design: Some cases from mathematics. In D. Klahr (Ed.), Cognition and instruction (pp. 51-80). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Sánchez, H., Correa, M., Ordoñez, O., & Otálora, Y. (2010). Elementos conceptuales ‘Aprender y Jugar’: Instrumento diagnóstico de competencias básicas en transición. Bogotá, D. C: Ministerio de Educación Nacional (MEN).
Siegler, R. (2016). How does change occur? In R. Sternberg, S. Fiske, & D. Foss (Eds.), Scientists making a difference: One hundred eminent behavioral and brain scientists talk about their most important contributions (pp. 223-227). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316422250.050
Simon, H. A. (1978). Information-processing theory of human problem solving. In W. K. Estes (Ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes V. Human information (pp. 271-295) Oxford, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Skinner, A., Diller, D., Kumar, R., Cannon-Bowers, J., Smith, R., Tanaka, A… Perez, R. (2018). Development and application of a multi-modal task analysis to support intelligent tutoring of complex skills. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0108-5
Sullivan, M., Yates, K., Inaba, K., Lam, L., & Clark, R. (2014). The use of cognitive task analysis to reveal the instructional limitations of experts in the teaching of procedural skills. Academic Medicine, 89(5), 811-816. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000224
Valverde, G. (2014). Experimentos de enseñanza: Una alternativa metodológica para investigar en el contexto de la formación inicial de docentes. Actualidades Investigativas en Educación, 14(3), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.15517/AI3.16095
This journal is registered under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. Thus, this work may be reproduced, distributed, and publicly shared in digital format, as long as the names of the authors and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana are acknowledged. Others are allowed to quote, adapt, transform, auto-archive, republish, and create based on this material, for any purpose (even commercial ones), provided the authorship is duly acknowledged, a link to the original work is provided, and it is specified if changes have been made. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana does not hold the rights of published works and the authors are solely responsible for the contents of their works; they keep the moral, intellectual, privacy, and publicity rights. Approving the intervention of the work (review, copy-editing, translation, layout) and the following outreach, are granted through an use license and not through an assignment of rights. This means the journal and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana cannot be held responsible for any ethical malpractice by the authors. As a consequence of the protection granted by the use license, the journal is not required to publish recantations or modify information already published, unless the errata stems from the editorial management process. Publishing contents in this journal does not generate royalties for contributors.