Ensuring a high quality of teaching mathematics to students is inextricably linked with teaching how to solve creative mathematical problems. These problems traditionally include tasks of high educational, developmental and diagnostic value. Teaching how to solve such problems allows training graduates with the highest level of the subject…

There is much agreement among chemical education researchers that expertise in chemistry depends in part on the ability to coordinate understanding of phenomena on three levels: macroscopic (observable), sub-microscopic (atoms, molecules, and ions) and symbolic (chemical equations, graphs, etc.). We hypothesize this "level-coordination…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to annotate an attribute of a problem, a solution or no annotation on learners' opinions automatically for supporting the learners' discussion without a facilitator. The case method aims at discussing problems and solutions in a target case. However, the learners miss discussing some of problems and solutions.…

The methodology used in this study was action-research and the considered activity is been applied successfully for at least five years to undergraduate and to master classes for Industrial Engineering students in Brazil. It showed a significant result in both cases, providing the basis for the deepening in the subject in further lessons.…

A study was conducted at the Technical University Berlin involving students who twice failed the written examination in the first semester course Linear Algebra for Engineers in order to better understand the reasons behind their failure. The study considered student understanding in terms of Bloom's taxonomy and the ways in which students…

A model of expertise in physics problem solving was tested on undergraduate science, physics, and engineering majors enrolled in an introductory-level physics course. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships among variables linked to expertise in physics problem solving including motivation, metacognitive planning,…

The concept of critical thinking was featured in taxonomies a few decades ago. Critical thinking is a complex process that requires higher levels of cognitive skills in the processing of information. The teachers' perceptions of critical thinking among students influence their behaviors in the classroom. It has been found that teachers perceive…

Professionally developed and freely accessible through the Internet, scientific data maps have great potential for teaching and learning with data in the science classroom. Solving problems or developing ideas while using data maps of Earth phenomena in the science classroom may help students to understand the nature and process of science. Little…

While there is agreement that creativity is central to teaching, learning and curriculum in higher education, what is meant by creativity is not always clear. The term is often employed uncritically, in the singular, and is reified. Where creativity is used with specificity, this is often over-determined, so that the term remains limited to…

In an attempt to specify in some canonical terms what many heuristic programs known as "expert systems" do, an analysis was made of ten rule-based systems. It was found that these programs proceed through easily identifiable phases of data abstraction, heuristic mapping onto a hierarchy of pre-enumerated solutions, and refinement within this…

This paper is a progress report of the first phase of a project which essentially seeks to replicate previous studies using the successful/unsuccessful design in an attempt to: (1) corroborate the surface/deep structure conclusion which has become an essential component of an understanding of problem-solving; (2) examine more closely the nature of…

The development and use of a taxonomy for describing the way distance students plan work and use course materials to complete mathematics exercises is detailed. The taxonomy was developed from an exploratory study but the initial results are viewed as having implications for educational use in many situations. (Author/MP)

Points out the difficulties of teaching evolution and recommends using simulations to circumvent these problems. Uses artificial organisms called caminalcules for teaching which allows students to focus on principles without preconceived ideas. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

Literature in mathematic problem-solving suggests that learners store information in memory which helps them solve stereotyped algebra word problems. Cluster analysis has been used as an exploratory tool to infer the types of problems which have common representations in memory. This study compares the results of a hierarchical cluster analysis of…

A social sciences paradigm for defining "wicked problems," which are aggressive but not clearly defined, is applied to the evaluation of college instruction. It is proposed that the construct is useful in planning for college faculty evaluation procedures and that prompt action is needed. (MSE)