Modelling multiple problem‐solving strategies and strategy shift in cognitive diagnosis for growth

Abstract Problem‐solving strategies, defined as actions people select intentionally to achieve desired objectives, are distinguished from skills that are implemented unintentionally. In education, strategy‐oriented instructions that guide students to form problem‐solving strategies are found to be more effective for low‐achieving students than the skill‐oriented instructions designed for enhancing their skill implementation ability. Although the existing longitudinal cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) can model the change in students' dynamic skill mastery status over time, they are not designed to model the shift in students' problem‐solving strategies. This study proposes a longitudinal CDM that considers both between‐person multiple strategies and within‐person strategy shift. The model, separating the strategy choice process from the skill implementation process, is intended to provide diagnostic information on strategy choice as well as skill mastery status. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the parameter recovery of the proposed model and investigate the consequences of ignoring the presence of multiple strategies or strategy shift. Further, an empirical data analysis is conducted to illustrate the use of the proposed model to measure strategy shift, growth in skill implementation ability and skill mastery status.