As problems become increasingly complex, science educators need to better understand how new knowledge is constructed and applied in heterogeneous team collaborations, and how to teach students to productively engage in these processes. We discuss the emergence of insights in collaborative sensemaking and suggest a model that articulates the…

Earthquakes, lightning, and history-changing ideas are classic examples of powerful, unpredictable forces of nature. These sorts of phenomena have been difficult to explain and predict, an often frustrating fact as humans try to understand and control the significant influences in our lives. Historically, such phenomena have been attributed to…

The present study observed problem-solving styles with anagrams to see whether observing a model solve anagrams in a rigid or flexible way would affect the types of solutions the subjects used. (Author)

Article stresses the skills gained in problem-solving over mere information transmission in the classroom. (GB)

Two stages of skill development are: declarative (facts are interpreted) and procedural (knowledge is embodied in skill procedures). Knowledge compilation moves skills from the declarative to procedural stage in subprocesses of composition, which collapses sequences of productions into single productions, and proceduralization, which embeds…

Equation problems elicited a strategy in which the subject attempted to isolate the X variables on one side of the equation, whereas word problems elicited a strategy in which the subject attempted to reduce the expression. These results suggest that problem format influences the type of strategy used to solve algebra problems. (Author/PN)

The primary objective of this study was to compare problem solving performance among formal operational, transitional, and concrete operational individuals with the effect of relative field independence taken into account within each of these three cognitive developmental levels. Secondarily, the study explored whether a developmental relationship…

Critical thinking can best be taught using higher cognitive questioning which includes the process of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The learner is required to use knowledge in a problem solving manner. Thus, higher cognitive questioning should be used as a tool for developing critical thinking--a vital intellectual operation. (Author/NQ)

Learning disabled students need systematic instruction in thinking skills. Both individual clinical studies and group programs have proven such training effective. Some important thinking strategies include goal clarification, previewing, organization, questioning, imagining, predicting, checking results, humor, and self-monitoring techniques. (DB)

If schools are to succeed in teaching critical thinking, educators must have a clear idea of what it is. Critical thinking is skillful, responsible thinking that relies upon criteria, is self-correcting, and is sensitive to context. (TE)

This review considers the question as to whether there are generic problem-solving skills that cut across fields or whether the skills are so embedded within specific fields that they can be identified only within the contexts of those fields. To answer this question, an attempt was made to define both "problems" and their "solutions." Then the…

The development and use of intuitive thinking, at all levels of education, have been of concern to scholars in recent years. This paper discusses the findings and theories of various scholars about intuitive thinking and learning, including the work of Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Richard Jones, and Robert Ornstein. The paper also explores the use…

Discusses general ways to approach and solve engineering problems. Uses the phase plane and perturbation methods to illustrate the qualitative study of equations. (MLH)

Examines the processes involved in problem solving and provides twelve problems that may be used to illustrate these processes. (JR)

Three modules designed to teach creative problem solving are included. Although prepared for mathematics teachers, the situations used are non-mathematical. The modules are entitled "Application of Deferred Judgment,""Recognizing the Real Problem," and "Developing the Solution." Instructor's guides for all modules are included together with the…