Problem solving is considered a fundamental human skill. However, large-scale assessment of problem solving in K-12 education remains a challenging task. Researchers have argued for the development of an enhanced assessment approach through joint effort from multiple disciplines. In this study, a three-stage approach based on an evidence-centered…

Of the eight scientific practices highlighted in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas," the first is for students to develop abilities to ask questions and define problems (NRC 2012). Constructing a range of questions about an object or phenomenon validates not only what students have…

Study 1 asked second through sixth graders, who could answer inclusion questions, to answer such questions without empirical information about relative quantity and to predict whether subordinate classes could be made larger than their superordinate classes. In study 2, children's performance in two part-whole domains, classes and collections, was…

Sixty-five teams of basic and secondary school students solved problem-solving tasks during a virtual hike in a Web-based inquiry-learning simulation Hiking Across Estonia. This environment provided learners with all necessary background information for problem-solving and tools for carrying out experiments. There were 25 tasks in certain order…

Investigated the hypothesis that impulsive children differ from reflective children in their preferred strategy of information processing, based on extent of stimulus analysis. The experiments employed third, fourth and sixth graders and a variety of tasks including matching, grouping, recall, and concept attainment. (MS)