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VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 2
Rachel C. Weber
Instructor, Director of Training
UBC School and Child Psychology
Internship Program,
rachel.weber@ubc.ca
Kim T. Zebehazy
Associate Professor
University of British Columbia
kim.zebehazy@ubc.edu
Background
Problem-solving, and related skills such as creativity, executive functioning, critical
thinking, and self-regulation, is an important ability that can impact lifelong outcomes in
children across academic, social, behavioral, and emotional domains (Jonassen, 2000;
Plucker, 1999). One area of cognition that is particularly crucial for the problem-solving
process is called divergent thinking (DT), which is involved in the first step of this process
often referred to as brainstorming. DT involves flexible thinking that attempts to rapidly
produce as many possible solutions to a problem (Guildford, 1950). This is commonly
measured using tasks that require individuals to generate as many uses for everyday
objects as they can, such as the Alternate Uses Task (Wallach & Kogan, 1965).
There is an emphasis on observational learning in the development of DT, such
that children acquire much of this skill through watching others solve problems (Kaufman
& Kaufman, 2004). This could be problematic for students with visual impairments (VI),
however, as they are known to have fewer opportunities for observation learning,
particularly if these opportunities are not intentionally provided by caregivers or teachers
Promoting Problem-Solving in Students
with Visual Impairments
