Some Examples of Cognitive Task Analysis with Instructional Implications

Analyses are described of knowledge structures used to understand and solve problems in high school geometry and in primary-grade arithmetic word problems. Analysis of geometry problem solving has clarified the nature of strategic knowledge needed by students and raises the question whether more explicit training in strategies would be beneficial in school instruction. Analysis of semantic knowledge needed to understand word problems raises questions about relationships between students' learning of computational procedures and their understanding of general types of quantitative relationships.