Effects of Think–Aloud Pair Problem Solving on Secondary–Level Students’ Performance in Career and Technical Education Courses

Abstract

A randomized posttest–only control group experimental design was used to determine the effects of think–aloud pair problem solving (TAPPS) on the troubleshooting performance of 34 secondary–level career and technical education students. There was no significant difference in success rate between TAPPS students and students who worked alone (χ 2 (1) = .747, p = .39, ϕ = .148). There was no significant difference in completion time between students who successfully completed the troubleshooting task using TAPPS and those who were successful working alone (t (9) = –.74, p = .48, d = 0.45). The reserachers tentatively concluded that the use of TAPPS may not be an appropriate strategy at the secondary level if the agricultural instructors’ focus is a higher success rate and a reduction in the time to complete the task. However, agricultural instructors may have other legitimate reasons for using TAPPS such as a way to facilitate collaborative learning or as a way for instructors to identify student misunderstandings that could be used to inform decisions about individualized or even group instructional interventions.