To provide practice and assessment of computational thinking, we need specific problems students can solve. There are many such problems, but they are hard to find. Learning environments and assessments often use only specific types of problems and thus do not cover computational thinking in its whole scope. We provide an extensive catalog of…

In this article, the authors describe an algebra 2 class activity, called the Exponent Maze, that had students practice many mathematics problems, display their creativity, and work together collaboratively by creating their own mazes. The authors discuss how they introduced the activity, what the students created, and how creating mazes can be…

In this article, the author presents a teaching prompt--Write-it-Out--to instruct readers who seemingly guess at words with no or limited use of grapheme-phonemic correspondences to recontextualize word-solving into writing. Through the nature of this prompt, slowing down the pace of solving words on the run with writing also reciprocally builds…

Background and Context: Block-based programming is a popular approach to teaching introductory programming. Block-based programming often works in the context of microworlds, where students solve specific puzzles. It is used, for example, within the Hour of Code event, which targets millions of students. Objective: To identify design guidelines…

The authors describe and discuss an activity in which primary school students were instructed how to use graph theory to solve a spatial puzzle. This activity was aligned with the design principles of vicarious failure. They discuss how this impacted the type of dialogue observed in the classroom and found that students were more likely to focus…

Whereas hackathons are widespread within and outside academia and have been argued to be a valid pedagogical method for teaching interdisciplinarity, no detailed frameworks or methods are available for conceptualizing and organizing educational hackathons, i.e., hackathons dedicated to best achieving pedagogic objectives. This paper is dedicated…

Metacognition supports students in successfully working through struggle by equipping them with the tools to maintain an awareness of what they are doing and to change directions when needed to overcome obstacles. Thus, it is of little surprise that effective problem solvers spend a significant amount of time analyzing tasks relative to the amount…

This article presents a reflection on a teaching experience involving the use of the Brügner tangram, an interesting but little-known manipulative material. It details an activity conducted as part of an undergraduate mathematics education course for prospective primary school teachers. The main objective of this paper is to present the…

Mathematical modeling and applications are an important part of curriculum and considered to be important for students' current and future lives. In this contribution, we focus on mathematical modeling from a cognitive prospective. Following embedding the cognitive perspective within the discourse of mathematical modeling, we describe some of the…

ePUZSOLVED is designed to help students understand the general communication models and experience the advantages and disadvantages of each. It will highlight how various modes of communication, when used appropriately, may lead people to solve problems, as exemplified by the online puzzle. Courses: Introduction of Communication Models, Review of…

The distant magnetic field of a magnetic dipole is usually derived via the magnetic vector potential and substantial vector calculus. This paper presents an alternate proof that is less mathematically intensive, and that ties together various problem-solving tricks (the principle of virtual work, observation that only instantaneous quantities…

The comprehensive practical activity curriculum can be said to be created to cater to children's curiosity and nature of exploration. Through the creation of problem situations, children are guided not only to explore what the world is, but also to pay close attention to what the world will be and cultivate children's key competencies in the real…

Open tasks are mathematical problems "that promote mathematical reasoning and problem solving and allow multiple entry points and varied solution strategies" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2014, p. 17). Open tasks can have more than one right answer, solution, or outcome. Facilitation of open tasks offers learning…

This introduction presents Active Learning Methodology, surveying its history, main existing tools and supporting evidence, with an emphasis on mathematics and higher education, in particular engineering studies. This work is part of the DrIVE-Math project, developing innovative mathematical teaching strategies in engineering studies.

The authors share an online collaborative problem-solving activity that integrates support for students' developing conceptual understanding, focused engagement, and positive feelings of agency and identity.