In this article, the author describes an activity he introduced to his engineering drafting students that involved a Tootsie Roll product. In this particular activity, he assigned his students to find out how many licks are needed to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. He first asked his students to do some research if an answer exists for…

This article discusses certain aspects of mathematics teacher education in Russia. To be able successfully to teach through problems, a teacher must know how to select the necessary assignments, to construct mathematical tasks according to methodological principles, and to organize work on these assignments in the classroom; in short, as they say…

Previous research on students' learning strategies has examined the relationships between either perceptions of the learning environment or personality and learning strategies. The focus of this study was on the joint relationships between the students' perceptions of the learning environment, their personality, and the learning strategies they…

Small-group problem-based learning (PBL) is widely embraced as a method of study in health professions schools and at many different levels of education. Complexity science provides a different lens with which to view and understand the application of this method. It presents new concepts and vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to practitioners of…

This article describes two consecutive enactments of technology-oriented teacher professional development designs, aimed at helping teachers find high-quality online learning resources and use them in designing effective problem-based learning (PBL) activities for their students. To align with current professional development prescriptions, in the…

This paper investigates various approaches to learning and their effect on performance of a cohort of international students in two different pedagogical environments. The effect of approaches to learning on performance was determined by using Cohen's "d" with Hedges "g" correction. Coe's spread sheet was used for the purpose.…

Children naturally explore and learn about their environments through inquiry, and computer technologies offer an accessible vehicle for extending the domain and range of this inquiry. Over the past decade, a growing number of interactive games and educational software packages have been implemented in early childhood education and addressed a…

Anatomy education in Pakistan is facing many of the same challenges as in other parts of the world. Roughly, a decade ago, all medical and dental colleges in Pakistan emphasized anatomy as a core basic discipline within a traditional medical science curriculum. Now institutions are adopting problem based learning (PBL) teaching philosophies, and…

Problem-based learning has in recent times aroused keen curiosity due to its pedagogical orientation of facilitating students' active construction of knowledge. As a curriculum model it is designed based upon the solving of either simulated or real-life problems that generally tend to be ill-structured and open-ended. In such a model students are…

Problem-based learning (PBL) offers students the opportunity to apply the appropriate knowledge to a well-defined problem, allowing students to apply academic problem-solving skills to their own real-life problems. This paper describes outcomes of a PBL program that was used as a tool for school improvement in three South Carolina schools--one…

Problem-based learning (PBL) uses adult-learning theory to structure the instructional process around presentation of a problem. Learning events emulate real-life situations as closely as possible. This paper describes how two middle schools and one high school implemented a structured staff-development approach aimed at teaching teachers how to…

Problem-based learning (PBL), often used in medical education, is an educational approach that organizes curriculum and instruction around carefully crafted "ill-structured" problems, to which students apply knowledge from multiple disciplines and critical thinking. PBL is being investigated as a teaching approach for elementary and middle…

A 6-minute, videotaped segment of discourse in a medical school classroom problem-based learning session is analyzed for evidence of the kinds of meanings being constructed, their functions, and the linguistic, kinesic, and other means by which they are being made. Three interdependent discourse agendas are distinguished: construction,…

A problem-based continuing medical education program to improve the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism by primary care physicians used a computer-simulated patient, individualized feedback, and a follow-up reading. Participating physicians felt the program improved their performance, but the results could not be substantiated. (MSE)

This text explores teaching techniques and adaptations that have proven effective in teaching mathematics concepts and skills to students with learning disabilities. This fourth edition, consistent with the standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000, continues to emphasize problem solving, number sense, student…