This study is set in the context of a Post Graduate course for Teacher Education where the participants were exposed to a systematic reflective learning strategy facilitated by a structured interactive e-learning platform. The e-platform was used for students to share, reflect and they had demonstration of skills in class. The researcher intended…

In this paper we examine how agency is characterised by teachers and students when personalised learning is enacted in the contemporary open classroom. A case study is outlined that identifies teacher reasoning for practice, the use of physical and virtual learning spaces, and student reaction to teacher facilitation of personalised learning.…

Too often, teachers scratch their heads and ask, "What were my students thinking?" then answer, "I don't want to know." But teachers should want to know, and students should question their own thinking, as well. Critical thinking involves not just problem solving, creativity, analysis, and synthesis but also self-awareness of learning and learning…

Discussions about school mathematics often address the importance of reasoning and proving for building students' understanding of mathematics. However, there is little research examining how teachers enact tasks designed to engage students in justifying and proving in the classroom. This article presents results of a study investigating the…

Learn the 5 practices for facilitating effective inquiry-oriented classrooms: (1) Anticipating what students will do--what strategies they will use--in solving a problem; (2) Monitoring their work as they approach the problem in class; (3) Selecting students whose strategies are worth discussing in class; (4) Sequencing those students'…

Problem based learning (PBL) is a recognised teaching and learning strategy used to engage students in deep rather than surface learning. It is also viewed as a successful strategy to align university courses with the real life professional work students are expected to undertake on graduation (Biggs, 2003). Problem based learning is practised…

Presents suggestions for helping students broaden their learning skills: tell students you plan to help them learn to learn, hold class discussions where students share learning strategies, give students practice using unfamiliar learning strategies, pick a complex learning exercise and present it in steps, and vary your approach over the course…

For the past five years, our students have been passing less and less time preparing for lectures and exams. To encourage them to do more exercises, a pedagogical activity was offered outside the classroom. With the goal of making students more active during the problem-solving process, an innovative online environment, Sphinx, was developed.…

Guidelines for implementing a problem-solving approach to teaching mathematics concepts and skills to students with mild disabilities include: establish connections to daily life; use visual presentations; use manipulatives; use peer-mediated instruction; provide models, cues, and prompts; teach self-management techniques and learning strategies;…

Despite plenty of practice, many students find interpreting and solving word-problems difficult. How can teachers work with students so that they learn to make appropriate sense (or should it be "inappropriate sense"?) of word-problems? One way to investigate how students make sense of word-problems is to ask them to write some of their own. The…

Describes the successful efforts of elementary school children in Salt Lake City, Utah in forcing officials to clean up a hazardous waste site. Argues that social studies skills should be moved outside the classroom to focus on solving problems in the community. Suggests common criteria for problem-solving activities. (DB)

Recommends using the Storypath method for introducing social studies concepts into the primary grades. Storypath introduces children to an imaginary environment (a neighborhood) and, working in teams, students provide details and people. Eventually they face a problem (litter), then bring the story and the problem to some kind of resolution. (MJP)

Describes experiences of a fifth grade teacher who converted her classroom to a whole language teaching and learning environment. In her child-centered classroom, she emphasizes student empowerment and decision making, cooperative learning, and flexibility. Her top priority is for students to participate and learn critical thinking and…

Describes a study focusing on student self-assessment and self-grading of examinations that test higher-order cognitive skills. The study supposed that by evaluating their own performance, students could not only enhance academic strengths and reduce weaknesses but also learn material in greater depth and further develop critical thinking skills.…

A mathematics staff development program engaged kindergarten through twelfth grade Georgia teachers in a constructivist approach to learning for use in the classroom. The Problem-Solving and Thinking Project emphasized that teacher and student learning is not done passively and that teachers must be taught as it is hoped they will teach. (SM)