This article gives an example for using Dynamic Geometry Software to encourage making conjectures, reasoning, and experiencing mathematics as a process.

Whereas some educational designers believe that students should learn new concepts through explorative problem solving within dedicated environments that constrain key parameters of their search and then support their progressive appropriation of empowering disciplinary forms, others are critical of the ultimate efficacy of this discovery-based…

This paper reports a study conducted to formally evaluate a social problem-solving skills game during the start of the development to ensure that the desired game attributes were successfully embodied in the final game. Two methods, heuristic evaluation and participatory design, were adopted to assess whether the features of the game pose…

Formal mathematical methods remain, for most high school students, mysterious, artificial and not a part of their regular intuitive thinking. The authors develop some themes that could lead to a radically new approach. According to this thesis, the teaching of programming languages as a regular part of academic progress can contribute effectively…

This study investigated junior high school students' use of problem-solving heuristics and metacognitive processes and the relationships that might exist between the students' use of these processes and their cognitive style. Using a computer microworld called "Nimbot" based on the ancient game of Nim, 10 seventh- and eighth-grade…

The undergraduate curriculum in differential equations has undergone important changes in favor of the visual and numerical aspects of the course primarily because of recent technological advances. Yet, research findings that have analyzed students' thinking and understanding in a reformed setting are still lacking. This paper discusses an ongoing…

Input from constructivist scholars and science teachers helps develop future biologists and biology teachers who better understand scientific investigation through their development and use of investigative software, as well as through laboratory and field activities. (SM)

Discusses geometry and Dynamical Geometry Software (DGS). Analyses the way DGS-use influences traditional geometry. Highlights changes in the interactions between geometry, computers, and DGS and human users, focusing on changes in the teaching and learning of geometry. Concludes that DGS deeply changes geometry if it is taken as a human activity…

The purpose of this study was to determine the procedural knowledge brought to, and created within, a pond ecology simulation by students. Environmental Decision Making (EDM) is an ecosystems modeling tool that allows users to pose their own problems and seek satisfying solutions. Of specific interest was the performance of biology majors who had…

Written in the form of a workshop transcript for participants to take with them, this booklet is designed to present new ideas, reinforce ideas covered in the workshop, suggest applications of workshop content, and encourage participants to use the applications. The concept of "problem" is defined; key ideas in problem solving are considered;…

Discusses two computer problem solving programs: rule-based expert systems and decision analysis expert systems. Explores the application of expert systems to automated chemical analyses. Presents six factors to consider before using expert systems. (MVL)

Compares a program written both in BASIC and LOGO on its inferential and decision making ability. Explains steps in each program and how deductions and decisions are made. (MVL)

Describes a computer-assisted, interdisciplinary course in decision making developed to promote student participation and critical thinking. Students participate in 20 interactive exercises that utilize and illustrate psychological and economic concepts. Follow-up activities include receiving background information, group discussions, text…

Presents two spreadsheets for middle school students applying Polya's heuristic to help develop number sense, reasoning abilities, and problem-solving skills. Spreadsheet 1, "the coin problem," allows students to vary coin quantities to total $8.32. Spreadsheet 2, "ratios," develops number relationships while finding 3 3-digit…

This study examined whether analogy or means-ends strategies (heuristics) would be used to solve geometric puzzle-like problems, which were generated by a microcomputer. The subjects in the two-group experiment were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at Potsdam College (New York). One group of subjects learned…