With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards and the adoption of the standards by many states, teachers are encouraged to use the engineering design process (EDP) as an instructional approach to teaching science. However, teachers have limited time to teach science and will often neglect science in favor of mathematics and literacy…

Many graduate programs for professionals (public policy, public administration, business, international affairs, and others) use client-based experiential learning projects, often termed "capstones," in which students combine theory and practice to benefit an outside client. Increasingly, undergraduate programs use client-based capstones…

Snowflakes falling in Brisbane, Australia would likely make news headlines during any season of a given year, even during winter. Year 8 students at Ormiston College which is located in Brisbane, have made their own snowflakes--of a kind. Using the programming language Scratch, all Year 8 Mathematics students wrote code to construct Swedish…

This article is written to share teaching ideas about using commonly available computer applications--a spreadsheet, "The Geometer's Sketchpad", and "Wolfram Alpha"--to explore three classic and historically significant problems from the probability theory. These ideas stem from the authors' work with prospective economists,…

It is difficult but important for mathematics teachers to help students see themselves as capable mathematics learners, that is, to help each student develop a positive mathematics identity. A student's mathematics identity is a powerful influence on his or her engagement and participation in mathematics. Students act in ways that are consistent…

This article revisits the cognitive load theory to explore the use of worked examples to teach a selected topic in a higher level undergraduate physics course for distance learners at the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia. With a break of several years from receiving formal education and having only minimum science…

Teaching persistence and problem solving must begin with selecting a problem that can be solved mathematically, that allows for multiple methods of solving, and that generally captures the attention and curiosity of the student (Marcus and Fey 2003; NCTM 1991; Van de Walle 2003). This article shows how a STEM three-dimensional (3D) printing…

Capillary electrophoresis is an important analytical separation method used to study a wide variety of samples, including those of biological origin. Capillary electrophoresis may be covered in the classroom, especially in advanced analytical courses, and while many students are exposed to gel electrophoresis in biology or biochemistry…

This article reports on a project that used a game-creation tool to introduce middle-school students ages 10 to 13 to problem-solving strategies similar to those in computer science through the lens of studio-based design arts. Drawing on historic paradigms in design pedagogy and contemporary educational approaches in the digital arts to teach…

Today's engineers, designers, and technologists are often thrust into the role of problem solver, from the initial design phase of a product or process all the way to final development. Many engineers in manufacturing environments are tasked with solving problems and continuously improving processes to enhance company profitability, efficiency,…

When dividing one fraction by a second fraction, invert, that is, flip the second fraction, then multiply it by the first fraction. To multiply fractions, simply multiply across the denominators, and multiply across the numerators to get the resultant fraction. So by inverting the division of fractions it is turned into an easy multiplication of…

The desire to persuade students to avoid strictly memorizing formulas is a recurring theme throughout discussions of curriculum and problem solving. In combinatorics, a branch of discrete mathematics, problems can be easy to write--identify a few categories, add a few restrictions, specify an outcome--yet extremely challenging to solve. A lesson…

When a second-grade class struggled to make sense of the algorithms for multidigit addition and subtraction, attitude and morale were down, and student discourse was at an all-time low. When daily mathematics class started, the teacher was hearing an overall class moan. The instructed needed to turn it around, to find a way to help excite and…

Although most tasks that STEM professionals engage in--like identifying problems, making models, and testing those models--involve inquiry, many STEM classes still rely on direct instruction. Stephan argues that even as new resources for active learning are being developed for STEM instruction, many teachers aren't using these resources and tasks…

Recognizing and using mathematical structure are key components of mathematical reasoning. The authors believe that one productive way to support students' use of structure is by identifying opportunities to address structure in the context of what teachers are already doing, rather than developing additional tasks or new curriculum materials. The…