There was a concern from faculty at Bahrain Teachers' College that undergraduate Bahraini students lack the necessary competencies needed for success in educational contexts that are conducive to active, student-centered learning. It was decided that the students be introduced to a problem-based learning (PBL) strategy in one of their educational…

In building intelligent tutoring systems, it is critical to be able to understand and diagnose student responses in interactive problem solving. However, building this understanding into a computer-based intelligent tutor is a time-intensive process usually conducted by subject experts. Much of this time is spent in building production rules that…

Problem-based learning (PBL) can be described as a learning environment where the problem drives the learning. This technique usually involves learning in small groups, which are supervised by tutors. It is becoming evident that PBL in a small-group setting has a robust positive effect on student learning and skills, including better…

Lists 12 reasons why college students have difficulty solving chemistry problems and 12 suggestions for improvement. Lists were compiled from students in an introductory chemistry course. (SK)

In an attempt to capture the diverse experience of undergraduates at the University of Washington (UW), the authors designed and conducted the University of Washington's Study of Undergraduate Learning (UW SOUL), a longitudinal study that tracked 304 students (about five percent of the entering freshman and transfer class) through their…

Investigated the roles of successful task performance and achievement instructions on attitudes regarding the guided-design approach to instruction. Results revealed that students erroneously informed that they had done well on the task stated more positive attitudes. However, the achievement instructions did not have a statistically significant…

Draws on the perceptions and experiences of upper-division students enrolled in writing-intensive (WI) classes in their majors at a large state university. Discusses findings as they relate to the ideologies of writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines. Suggests greater attention to a field's inquiry methods and strategies for…

Presents the results of a study comparing student reactions to and perceptions of learning in introductory public relations courses using a traditional lecture format and a Socratic approach. Finds significant differences in the two groups showing that students who received the Socratic instruction reported more opportunities in practicing their…

Describes a psychology course that implemented a problem-solving approach to provide students with a hands-on experience of community psychology in a multicultural South Africa. Traces the students' reactions to the course from their initial enthusiasm and emergence of frustration to their eventual understanding of other cultures. (CMK)

A problem solving procedure known as the Tab Item was used with 21 undergraduate education majors who minored in reading to give the students an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a nonthreatening environment. The problem solving activity centered on a hypothetical fourth grade teaching position that opened at midyear. The students were told…

Describes self-regulatory processes that promote achievement in the basic skills of reading (clarifying purpose, understanding meanings, drawing inferences, looking for relationships, reformulating text) and mathematical problem solving (clarifying problem goals, understanding concepts, applying knowledge, monitoring progress). Experiences in…

Describes a study which explored undergraduate students' reactions to a Web-based environment supporting problem-based learning. Findings revealed that while the majority of students saw value to be gained from learning in a student-centered, collaborative setting, many expressed preference for learning in the more conventional teacher-directed…

Concludes that junior high school students encode movies better than prose, but that college students encode both equally well. (FL)

This paper describes networking evaluation, an alternative to traditional evaluation, in which students work cooperatively in small groups to solve specific problems and are evaluated collectively by their teacher. Steps in the networking evaluation model are: (1) explaining the networking concept to students and preparing them for the evaluation;…

Described is an experiment to test the effectiveness of alternative methods of teaching Evidence to students at Brigham Young University's law school. The methods tested were the traditional casebook approach, the problem approach, and a programed format. Examples of instructional materials and a transcript excerpt are appended. (JMD)