The role of metacognitive skills in learning to solve problems

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Developing knowledge: development of new knowledge based on creative
ideas, the analysis of failures, daily experiences and work in
R&D departments.
Consolidating knowledge: the safeguarding of knowledge against loss
due to different causes (including the decay of knowledge, that is
knowledge becoming obsolete because of natural factors).
Distributing knowledge: the active distributing of knowledge to those
who can make use of it in their daily practices.
Combining knowledge: the combination of knowledge areas in order
to develop new products.
The main assumption behind the model is that one makes a plan in
order to solve a KM problem and achieves that plan by implementing
interventions. This represents a systematic approach to solving KM
problems.
3.2.2 The paper-based Coltec material
The Coltec case was initially developed to investigate how novice
learners solve KM problems and to what extent they use the model
of Wiig et al. (de Hoog et al., 1999). The Coltec case material consists
of a case description and a number of events on paper. In the case
description learners can find information about Coltec, a fictional company
that manufactures adhesives and coatings. A description is given
of the history, the products, the market share and the organizational
structure of Coltec. Coltec is a ‘product leadership’ type of organisation
(Treacy & Wiersema, 1995). This type of organisation strives for
developing innovative products, which requires a strong focus on R&Drelated
activities. Important knowledge departments for this type of
company are R&D, Marketing and Production. Other types of organisations
distinguished are ‘customer intimacy’ (competing by trying to
become a partner for a limited number of customers through providing
customised products) and ‘operational excellence’ (competing by producing
at the lowest costs). Four predefined events belong to the Coltec
case. Each event negatively influences the knowledge household of Coltec
in a typical way.
Event 1, ‘Decline of chemistry students’ concerns the fact that in the
coming years, a decline in the number of chemistry students can be expected.
This represents a threat to Coltec in terms of knowledge consolidation.
There is a risk that Coltec misses out on accurate knowledge of
Chemistry in the future. Event 2, ‘Differences in productivity’ concerns