Rich and challenging tasks can be the vehicle to bring mathematical challenge in classroom. Challenge emerges when you don't know how to solve the task at first but you can figure out, that is when the solvers are not aware of certain tools to solve the tasks and they have therefore to invent some mathematical actions to proceed. Some challenging…

The article presents comparative analysis of modular training as a teaching tool against traditional methods and techniques in educational institutions, particularly in higher education. Being one of the forms of interactive learning, modular training ensures efficient intermutual development of all members of educational process. It increases…

In this paper I consider the notion of 'visible pedagogy' in refining a conceptualization of 'socially-just pedagogy' in the mathematics classroom. I explore reasons why the recent focus on promoting formative assessment and metacognition, embodied in Hattie's 'visible learning', has failed to bring about the fundamental shift in pedagogic…

This article describes a grading approach that encourages students to employ particular problem-solving skills. Some strengths of this method, called "process-based grading," are that it is easy to implement, requires minimal time to grade, and can be used in conjunction with either an online homework delivery system or paper-based homework.

Studying physics for nonphysics majors at college level is usually a process of learning new problem-solving skills and sometimes seems a frustrating experience. In an attempt to provide students with more learning resources, online homework was required to supplement the instruction. This study reveals the role of the online homework assignments…

When solving systems of equations by using matrices, many teachers present a Gauss-Jordan elimination approach to row reducing matrices that can involve painfully tedious operations with fractions (which I will call the traditional method). In this essay, I present an alternative method to row reduce matrices that does not introduce additional…

Correctly harnessed, we can blend the best of our traditional intellectual linear culture--Socrates' wisdom of the 5th century BCE--with the current digital visual culture, creating a new learning and intellectual environment consistent with the cognitive and expressive demands of the 21st century. Four elements of the 21st-century mind could be…

"Blended learning" is using online tools to communicate, collaborate, and publish, to extend the school day or year and to develop the 21st-century skills students need. With blended learning, teachers can use online tools and resources as part of their daily classroom instruction. Using many of the online tools and resources students already are…

This article discusses schema-based instruction (SBI) as an alternative to traditional instruction for enhancing the mathematical problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). In the authors' most recent research and developmental efforts, they designed SBI to meet the needs of middle school students with LD in inclusive…

Problem solving theory and practice suggest that thinking is more important to solving problems than knowledge and that it is possible to teach thinking in situations where little or no knowledge of the problem is needed. Such an assumption has led problem solving advocates to champion "content-less heuristics" as the primary element of problem…

One of the primary course delivery techniques has been the See-Hear-Do model. Under this system, the professor goes through the material and prepares a lecture for the class. The material is then presented to the students, typically using PowerPoint or some other visual graphics. The students are then asked to engage in some exercises, either in…

Discusses self-learning exercises (SLEs) incorporated into the Medical Physiology course for first-year students at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Twenty to thirty percent of course material is presented in these exercises instead of in lectures. The exercises develop active learning and problem-solving skills. Formal analysis…

In Fall 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) piloted a modeling-based approach to college algebra. This paper describes the course and an assessment that was conducted to determine the effect of this approach on student achievement in comparison to a traditional approach to college algebra. The results show that compared with their…

This paper, presented at a conference on pedagogy at Chichester, England, argues that overemphasis on expository verbal learning in teacher education is deleterious to student learning. Instead, teacher educators should develop conceptual learning and problem-solving abilities, drawing on educational psychology for an inquiry-oriented approach,…

The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation sponsored a conference to consider designs for evaluation studies and the potential distinctive outcomes of the innovative medical curricula that might be foci of these studies. Differences between graduates of innovative and traditional curricula which might be expected were identified. (Author/MLW)