Understanding the solution procedure
To apply a solution procedure to a problem usually means to carry out a sequence of
interrelated steps, where a result achieved by carrying out one step is used as input for the
next step of the solution procedure. In order to achieve problem-solving transfer, a problem
solver should not simply memorize solution procedures as step-by-step recipes, but as
meaningful building blocks that can be flexibly recombined to fulfill the specific
requirements of a problem (Catrambone 1998; Gerjets et al. 2004; Van Gog et al. 2004).
Thus, understanding a solution procedure means to have knowledge of the subgoals that
are achieved by the individual steps or groups of steps (Catrambone 1998), and on potential