With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), many teachers are changing their classroom structure from teacher-directed to student-centered. When the author began designing and using problem-based tasks she saw a drastic improvement in student engagement and problem-solving skills. The author describes the Cake…

Collaborative problem solving, when students work in pairs or small groups on a curriculum-related task, has become an increasingly common feature of classroom education. This paper reports a study of a topic which has received relatively little attention: how teachers can most usefully intervene when students are working in a group, but have…

Two well-accepted ideas among educators are (a) performance assessment is an effective means of assessing higher-order thinking skills and (b) data-driven instruction planning is a valuable tool for optimizing student learning. This article describes a locally developed performance task (LDPT) designed to measure critical thinking, problem…

The focus of this study is the relationship between students' performance in mental calculation and the strategies they use when solving three-digit mental addition problems. The sample comprises 78 4th grade students (40 boys and 38 girls). Their mean age was 10 years and 4 months. The main novelties of the current research include (1)…

Mathematical creativity is rooted in the intellectual abilities and personality traits of each individual, in which the direct influence of education is only moderate. However, education could have more influence on three important components of creativity: expertise, original thinking, and intrinsic motivation, which underlie individual creative…

The current tendency to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching challenges teachers to both develop and convey Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). This study examines the extent to which science teachers who have integrated ICT into their practice really demonstrate awareness of the aspects of meaningful…

Ratio and proportional relationships are of primary importance during the upper elementary and middle school grades (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989, 2000; National Mathematics Advisory Panel [NMAP], 2008). These relationships, along with the interrelated topics of fractions, decimals,…

To improve the practical effect of an information system security course for students majoring in information security, a teaching method based on the theory of inventive problem solving (TIPS) that combines case-based teaching and project practice was introduced in the class. Adopting innovative thinking methods, we instructed students on the…

This article examines how a virtual case that prepares students for practical scenario training affects police students' performance in a practical scenario training. This study included 69 Swedish police students at the Basic Training Programme for Police Officers -- 35 assigned to a virtual police case (VCASE) and 34 assigned to a conventional…

Case studies are helpful teaching tools that can bring scientific concepts to life. Here, we present a case study related to protein-ligand interactions, amino acids, protein structure, and protein modification. While protein-ligand interaction is a foundational concept within Biochemistry, there are few available case studies that focus on this…

Business Education is dynamic in nature and needs diverse information to deal with different business problems. To understand the peculiar situations and to manage them effectively, case studies are widely used. Researchers in education have already demonstrated that students' active participation in the educational process increases their…

The benefits of rich tasks, project-based learning, and other inquiry-based approaches in terms of student understanding and engagement with mathematics are well documented. Such pedagogies are consistent with the development of mathematical proficiencies as described in the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" (Australian Curriculum…

In vocational education students are to be prepared to participate in communities of practice. Hence they need technical skills as well as content knowledge e.g. science and mathematics. Research has shown that the instructional strategy of guided co-construction may lead to deeper understandings within a practice. The research questions in this…

Being able to find the correct answer to a math problem does not always indicate solid mathematics mastery. A student who knows how to apply the basic algorithms can correctly solve problems without understanding the relationships between numbers or why the algorithms work. The Common Core standards require that students actually understand…

Physical computing covers the design and realization of interactive objects and installations and allows students to develop concrete, tangible products of the real world, which arise from the learners' imagination. This can be used in computer science education to provide students with interesting and motivating access to the different topic…