This article presents an example of a versatile multi-solution problem that can be used right across the primary years. The basic problem is: "Noah saw 16 legs go past him into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?" Any even number can be used, although, 2 legs allows only one answer and with 16 legs there are already 14 different…

Metacognition has been accorded a role in both mathematical problem solving and in the learning of mathematics. There has been consistent advocacy of the need for the promotion of metacognitive activity in both domains. Such advocacy can only be effective if the advocated process is well understood. In this paper we have four goals: to describe a…

A cognitive lab technique (n=156) was used to investigate interactions between individual factors and item factors presumed to affect assessment validity for diverse students, including English language learners. Findings support the concept of "access"--an interaction between specific construct-irrelevant item features and individual…

The IRT (Item Response Theory) has been studied and applied in computer-based test for decades. However, almost of all these existing studies evaluated focus merely on test questions with text-based (or static text/graphic) type of presentation form illustrated exclusively. In this paper, we present our study on test questions using both…

This training manual provides 42 lessons developed for a workplace literacy program at O'Neal Steel. Each lesson consists of a summary sheet with activities and corresponding materials and time; handout(s); pretest; instructor materials and samples; and worksheet(s). Activities in each lesson are set induction, guided practice, applied practice,…

Achieve launched this study to help inform the decisions states are making about high school assessments by providing greater insights into the world of college admissions and placement testing. Achieve analyzed more than 2,000 questions from college admissions and placement exams to determine how these tests compare to one another and how well…

This article reports on the use of a unique number system to facilitate teachers' understanding of the concepts of place value. Teachers' mastery of base-ten may hinder their recognition of the difficulties students have with place value, so the authors created a number system that used five symbols to represent values. Using this system, teachers…

Upper-elementary students encounter a sometimes dizzying array of traditional and nontraditional texts both in and outside of the classroom. This practical handbook helps teachers in grades 4-6 harness the instructional potential of fiction, poetry, and plays; informational texts; graphic novels; digital storytelling; Web-based and multimodal…

This report describes an intervention designed to assist students in creating and accepting divergent solutions to problems in mathematics. The targeted population consisted of fifth-grade students from a multicultural setting with varied economic backgrounds, and the sample included 171 fifth graders in two school districts. Underdeveloped…

The curriculum guide is designed for a basic skills course for machine maintenance workers. The 12-week course is divided into three segments: English as a Second Language and vocabulary development; technical vocabulary and mathematics; and technical symbols, trouble-shooting, and word problems. For each of the three segments, a list of…

This book is designed to provide elementary and middle school teachers with motivating problem-solving activities to use with their students. The text contains interesting and challenging problems from mathematics, language arts, social studies, and natural science which are divided into sections of activities of short, middle, and longer duration…

The limited language capability of CAI systems has made it difficult to personalize problem-solving instruction. The intelligent tutoring system, ALBERT, is a problem-solving monitor and coach that has been used with high school and college level physics students for several years; it uses a natural language system to understand kinematics…

This study presents psychometric characteristics of the mathematics problem solving performance assessment used in the Minneapolis Public Schools, focusing on the interrater reliability, scoring reliability, and validity of the assessment. The Minneapolis Math Problem Solving Assessment (MPSA) was established in 1991. Students are asked to solve…

Items in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's (NCREL) School Development Library series are multimedia packages consisting of print, video, audio, and CD-ROM resources designed to support educators in their efforts to improve classroom instruction. This particular set consists of a 40-minute video and a printed booklet focusing on…

A content analysis was conducted of think-aloud protocols of a teacher who used the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire (MAQ) to explore the mathematical dispositions of her students. The teacher used the MAQ four times over a 2-year period with geometry students at various levels. On the first occasion, the teacher used a direct instruction…