The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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Figure A.1.
The FOCUS phase in KM Quest.
Question: What are the margins of profit on underwater coatings?
Answer: Margins of profit on these products are at the average level compared of
other products of Coltec.
Question: Is there a large market for coatings to paint and preserve garden chairs?
Answer: The marketing department has laid hands on reports of companies that
are making garden furniture. It shows that sales levels of wooden chairs have gone
up drastically in the last years, especially in Western Europe.
What we learn from these answers is that Coltec produces underwater coatings
and that it could be beneficial for Coltec’s market share and profit to market these
coatings for a different type of product than originally planned for.
The next step concerns ‘Determine focus on knowledge processes in domains’.
In this step we make a choice for a particular knowledge process in a particular
domain that is relevant for this event. In this case we focus on knowledge gaining
in the marketing department. Knowledge gaining in marketing involves getting new
knowledge from outside Coltec. This could concern, for instance, customer preferences
for using underwater coatings. With this knowledge an effective marketing campaign