Computer science (CS) has become a critical part of K-12 education worldwide. Computational thinking (CT) skills are a key set of competencies in CS education that can solve problems and use computational design to create useful solutions. However, preservice and in-service teachers are not fully prepared to integrate CS and CT into their…

Academics at Griffith university envisioned a complementary learning and supportive relationship could be developed between Bachelor of Information Technology (BAIT) students and Master of Social Work (MSW) students. Discussions between discipline specific staff highlighted that each discipline had strengths and expertise that could assist…

This study concerned aspiring educational leaders' problem-solving skill development, specifically through classroom instruction with real-world scenarios. Professional educators obtaining an advanced degree in educational administration at a public university were surveyed in the fall and spring about their problem-solving abilities. Participants…

This article explores one segment of an extended research and development project that was conducted to better understand the ways online teacher professional development can support teachers' development of deep and connected mathematical understandings. In particular, this article discusses teachers' understandings of the concept of…

Background: Clinical problem-solving is fundamental to the role of the speech-language pathologist in both the diagnostic and treatment processes. The problem-solving often involves collaboration with clients and their families, supervisors, and other professionals. Considering the importance of cooperative problem-solving in the profession,…

The literature and the employee and workforce surveys rank collaborative problem solving (CPS) among the top 5 most critical skills necessary for success in college and the workforce. This paper provides a review of the literature on CPS and related terms, including a discussion of their definitions, importance to higher education and workforce…

Although virtual worlds offer teachers the potential to enhance the K-12 curriculum in novel ways, there have been few systematic attempts to instruct teachers about virtual worlds, research their reactions, or track their explorations of these three-dimensional environments. Therefore, this study was designed to respond to the call to help…

Teaching mathematics through problem solving is a challenge for teachers who learned mathematics by doing exercises. How do teachers develop their own problem solving abilities as well as their abilities to teach mathematics through problem solving? A group of teachers began the journey of learning to teach through problem solving while taking a…

This study investigated communication patterns and behavior in problem-solving groups in a graduate online course. An inductive qualitative analysis method was employed to analyze 732 messages that were retrieved from small group forums. The current study identified a temporal pattern of group development was in comparison with existing…

This study investigates how a variety of resources mediated collaborative problem solving for a group of preservice teachers. The participants in this study completed mathematical, combinatorial tasks and then watched a video of a sixth grader as he exhibited sophisticated reasoning to recognize the isomorphic structure of these problems. The…

This study examined 3 graduate-level online courses that utilized problem-based learning (PBL), considering each course as a case. Beyond describing how PBL was implemented in each case, this study identified what worked (strengths) and did not work (weaknesses) in the PBL and explored how the PBL could be improved (improvements) by collecting…

This study integrates the purposes of communication, i.e. in-class and on-line discussions, with problem solving skills in the process of learning professional knowledge of pre-service teachers. It attempts to foster both comprehension of professional knowledge and the attitude of contextualizing knowledge with situational factors. More…

One of the most important facets of collaborative learning is the interaction between individual and collaborative learning activities--between divergent perspectives and shared knowledge building. Individuals bring divergent ideas into a collaborative environment. While individuals bring their own unique knowledge and perspectives, the second…

Describes the structure of events during cooperative-learning activities in a graduate-level thermodynamics course and explores what these activities mean to students. Details the structure of the sessions and delineates the findings which emerge from the student perspective. Contains 25 references. (DDR)

This paper proposes that problem-based learning (PBL) can serve as a cognitive apprenticeship in administrator-preparation programs. The paper presents an overview of PBL and its application in the administrator-preparation program at the University of Connecticut. The initial training in group processing for students enrolled in the program is…