FOSTERING ACTION COMPETENCE THROUGH GUIDE D PROBLEM-SOLVING AND MULTIPLE LEARNING CONTEXTS

The frequently reported problems in applying knowledge inspired the qu estion of how action competence could be fostered. We investigated to what extent action competence in the area of economics can be fostered by two means of instruction that are recommended by recent models. In a 2 x 2 factorial design, the effects of multiple learning contexts ( uniform vs. multiple) and guided problem-solving (no guidance vs. guid ance) were analyzed. 60 vocational students worked on an economics com puter simulation under different learning conditions. Different rests were employed to measure the learning gains. Depending on the specific aspect of action competence (system control, quality of mental models , factual knowledge), different learning conditions proved to be the m ost effective. Increasing the complexity by providing multiple learnin g contexts without simultaneous guidance proved to be ineffective in a ll cases. The results imply that providing complex learning environmen ts, which has often been recommended in recent years, seems to be prom ising only if learners also receive guidance on coping with this compl exity.