As problems become increasingly complex, science educators need to better understand how new knowledge is constructed and applied in heterogeneous team collaborations, and how to teach students to productively engage in these processes. We discuss the emergence of insights in collaborative sensemaking and suggest a model that articulates the…

The primary objective of this study was to compare problem solving performance among formal operational, transitional, and concrete operational individuals with the effect of relative field independence taken into account within each of these three cognitive developmental levels. Secondarily, the study explored whether a developmental relationship…

Linguistic and psychological factors which bear on the concept of "intuitive thinking" are analyzed with respect to second language learning. Analytical thinking is considered as being logical, cognitive, and objective while intuitive thinking is considered to be creative, constructive, and non-analytical. Following a brief discussion of Piaget's…

Presents an overview of the four component parts of the activity of problem solving. These are the types of problems to be solved, the necessary prerequisites, the strategies, and the elements used in applying the strategies. (HM)

When the context of instructional discourse maximizes the likelihood of interaction with preexisting knowledge structures, productive learning outcomes may be increased. In the present study, 44 undergraduate students who read a hierarchically structured text were asked to recall its contents immediately and again six weeks later. The generation…

This issue, part of an annual series prepared for Maryland educators, presents the problem solving aspect of learning behavior by reviewing some of the variables which affect how individuals confront intellectual problems. Selected studies and a bibliography which are helpful in developing instructional methods which take into account individual…

Research on levels of questioning and their effects on learning is reviewed. It is shown that higher level questions facilitate reproductive and productive knowledge, but the reasons why are not clearly understood. An information processing model which accounts for question level effects is discussed. (MH)

THIS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTIVE THINKING IN RETARDED AND NONRETARDED CHILDREN USED DATA FROM A SAMPLE OF 78 PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS--(1) MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN IN SPECIAL CLASSES, (2) RETARDED CHILDREN IN REGULAR CLASSES, AND (3) NONRETARDED CHILDREN IN REGULAR CLASSES. THE GROUPS WERE SELECTED SO THAT THERE…

Investigates the abilities of 36 fifth graders and 30 ninth graders who were selected from 11 schools in Thailand to solve problems involving seven of Piaget's logical operations. These operations are classification, seriation, logical multiplication, compensation, proportional thinking, probability, and correlational thinking. (HM)

Self talk (thoughts about one's self and own performance while learning or working) can affect cognitive and learning strategies that in turn affect specific learning techniques. Negative self talk can interfere with learning since it reinforces feelings of failure, thereby increasing the probability of continued failure, and maintains an…

This document contains a research report and a teacher's guide about the importance of questioning in children's education. The research was based on the belief that effective information processing begins with the learner's desire to ask questions. The report identifies four basic types of questions: (1) evaluative, which involves making…

Focusing on how expert writers in various disciplines convey complex ideas, this paper shows how the techniques used by the mathematician, Clark Kimberling, in various writings can (1) be transferred to other disciplines, (2) show learning taking place, and (3) provide models for students to re-enact learning in all subject areas. The paper…

Listed alphabetically by author are 996 references on experimentation and investigation in the area of creativity since 1954. Included are all articles which have appeared in Psychological Abstracts since 1954, unpublished doctoral dissertations, masters theses, papers, and reports. (AJ)

Although teachers may sequence instructions carefully, they are unable to respond to the complex unique experience of each individual learner. Divergent production should be an instructional choice that enables individuals to learn through their own recall and idea construction. Learning is problem solving; when individuals do not know how to deal…