Availability of abstract problem schemas
Problem schemas ‘‘are defined as mental constructs that allow patterns or configurations to
be recognized as belonging to a previously learned category and which specify what moves
are appropriate for that category’’ (Sweller and Cooper 1985, p. 60). Thus, problem
schemas go beyond the conceptual understanding of individual problems, because they
represent structural commonalities of a whole class of problems thereby referring to
problem categories. These schemas are comprehensive in that they also include a representation
of the solution procedures that are valid for all problems belonging to that
category. Problem schemas allow one to easily distinguish among problems of different
categories and are thus considered to be a marking feature of expert problem solving (Van
Lehn 1996).
Teaching