Alternative Frameworks and the Concept of Task. Cognitive Constraints in Pupils' Interpretations of Teachers' Assignments

Abstract

Halldén, O. 1988. Alternative Frameworks and the Concept of Task. Cognitive Constraints in Pupils' Interpretations of Teachers' Assignments. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 32, 123‐140. If we are to understand a learning outcome, we have to take into consideration the learner's conception of the learning task. Task is here defined as the means a teacher utilizes when trying to communicate an assignment to a pupil. The pupil's interpretation of such a task is called a problem or a project. It is the pupil's attempts to solve such problems or to complete such projects that account for the learning that takes place. Two qualitatively different types of problem are identified: procedural and content‐related. Factors influencing pupils' task interpretation are discussed and implications for research on pupils' alternative frameworks are considered. One such implication is the identification of two different levels of alternative frameworks.