Researchers point at the need to study the creative processes of students in problem solving, as these may indicate how to encourage creative problem solving. The present research attempts to study, based on the heuristic framework of Polya, pre-service teachers' flexibility processes when they solve a mathematical problem with technology. The…

There is a large body of literature concerning the potential of dynamic geometry software (DGS) in the problem solving process. However, questions regarding how teaching should take place to prepare students to use DGS as a heuristic tool in non-routine problem situations seem to be overlooked. To address this gap in the literature, the current…

There has been a large amount of research about the impact of dynamic geometry software (DGS) on the learning of mathematics mainly related to different representations of mathematical concepts and functional dependences. This paper goes beyond these investigations by suggesting meaningful connection and integration of DGS with physical resources…

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

This article reports and analyzes different types of problems that nine students in a Master's Program in Mathematics Education posed during a course on problem solving. What opportunities (affordances) can a dynamic geometry system (GeoGebra) offer to allow in-service and in-training teachers to formulate and solve problems, and what type of…

Reports, in French, an investigation on the use of graphic representations in problem-solving tasks of the type in Spanish Mathematical Olympiads. Analysis showed that the choice and interpretation of the first graphic representation played a decisive role in the discovery of the solution. (34 references) (Author/MKR)

Illustrates how heuristics can provide a psychological narrative of Hippocrates' and Archytas' thinking on the duplication of the cube. Four general heuristic techniques were used. (YP)

Presents an activity suitable for rainy days in which students solve a story problem to determine how fast a person should run in the rain to get the least wet. (MDH)

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 article discusses the classic problem: "Given an equilateral triangle and a point P inside the triangle, what is the sum of the distances from P to the three sides?" The problem is used to illustrate the generative nature of problem-posing using the heuristic "What happens if...?" (PK)

Presents thinking-aloud protocols from secondary pupils solving arithmetic story and geometrical problems and analyzes their protocols by using interpretation models founded on a general problem-solving model. A word problem solving simulation is also used to further explicate processes pupils use to solve mathematical tasks. (Author/MBR)

This qualitative assessment of tenth-grade students' (n=17) problem solving focused on the nature of students' thinking, their problem-solving strategies and heuristics, the mathematical approaches they selected, and the ways they monitored their own progress. The problem, presented orally and with photographs in a task-based interview, involved a…

This report describes an analysis of the segments and shows of the first season's production of "Square One TV" in terms of its elaborated goals. It includes charts and graphs showing the treatment of objectives for the series' goals across the 75 shows of the series. The goals of the series are: (1) to promote positive attitudes toward,…

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…

Provided is a teacher's guide for a problem-solving activity that establishes a link between number patterns and geometry by focusing on the development of recurrence relations established when generating central polygonal numbers. Reproducible worksheets and a 3.0 BASIC program for the activity are given. (MDH)