Discusses findings from a research study designed to characterize students' development of significant mathematical models by examining the shifts in their thinking that occur during problem investigations. Reveals four sources of mismatches that were significant in bringing about the occurrence of shifts in students' thinking. (Contains 16…

Presents the current status and new perspectives on the Structured Learning Theory (SLT), with special consideration given to how SLT has been influenced by recent research in software engineering. Topics include theoretical constructs; content domains; structural analysis; cognition; assessing behavior potential; and teaching and learning issues,…

Four experiments investigated transformation problems with insight characteristics. In Experiment 1, performance on a version of the 6-coin problem that had a concrete and visualizable solution followed a hill-climbing heuristic. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the difficulty of a version of the problem that potentially required insight for…

In 4 experiments, instructions to plan a task (water jugs) that normally produces little planning altered how participants solved the problems and resulted in enhanced learning and memory. Experiment 1 identified planning strategies that allowed participants to plan full solutions to water jugs problems. Experiment 2 showed that experience with…

Two experiments were conducted to understand the processes through which 5th graders discriminate relevant from irrelevant information when solving mathematical story problems. Visual scanning was recorded and coded as directed toward relevant information, irrelevant information, the question, workspace, and elsewhere. Experiment 1 focused on the…

Looking away from an interlocutor's face during demanding cognitive activity can help adults answer challenging arithmetic and verbal-reasoning questions (Glenberg, Schroeder, & Robertson, 1998). However, such "gaze aversion" (GA) is poorly applied by 5-year-old school children (Doherty-Sneddon, Bruce, Bonner, Longbotham, & Doyle, 2002). In…

This study investigated the effect of two problem-solving techniques: (a) free-association with a direct reference to the problem, called shortly direct, and (b) free-association with a remote and postponed reference to the problem, called remote, on fluency and originality of ideas in solving ill-structured problems. The research design…

Development of mathematical problem solving skills is an age old problem in mathematics. This paper details the design of a component of a first year university mathematics course in which group work and mathematical communication skills, especially writing skills, are used as a tool to develop non-routine problem solving skills. In this design…

Mandler's (1984) model of emotion is summarized in this paper and is operatonalized analytically and statistically using Thom's (1975) catastrophe theory. Data were collected from (n=15) mathematics majors in a pilot study to test Mandler's model and the nonlinear effects of emotions in solving mathematical problems. The data were found to fit…

Research in mathematical problem solving has produced significant results in trying to understand what people do to solve problems. An important part of the solution process is the presence of both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. This paper documents the extent to which 13 ninth grade students are able to recognize the basic structure of a…

Results support the general conclusion that the disposition to respond in either a reflective or impulsive fashion influences the problem-solving efficiency and strategy behavior of elementary school children. The relative impact of cognitive style on problem solving varied with developmental level and the type of problem solved. (Author/BJG)

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that an inability to separate incoming information into discrete messages is a source of young children's relatively poor performance in selective attention tasks. Subjects were 27 children drawn from kindergarten, second grade and fifth grade classes. (Author/GO)

Concludes that children scoring high in picture arrangement on the Wechsler have significantly poorer problem solving ability than children with low picture arrangement scores. (RB)

Author presented a selection of examples of the role of connective analogies in invention/discovery. (Author/RK)

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…