Thirty-two high school students were categorized by creativity style (adaptor or innovator) and completed two musical composition problems involving two different degrees of problem-finding behaviors: an open, and a closed, problem. No significant differences due to problem type, creativity style, or the interaction of the two factors was found.…

Describes a project based on the book "Roxaboxen" by Alice McLerran for a multiage summer program at the Loudon Country Day School (Virginia) where children create an imaginary town. Discusses benefits of the project, including connecting children with books, illuminating the importance of play, use of imagination, and suitability for various…

The purposes of this study were: to compare students' performance on conceptual and algorithmic chemistry problems; to investigate the relationships between learning orientation, formal reasoning, and mental capacity and students' performance on conceptual and algorithmic problems; and to investigate interactions among learning orientation, formal…

This study investigated students' conceptual and procedural understanding of calculus within the context of an engineering mechanics course. Four traditional calculus students were compared with three students from one of the calculus reform projects, Calculus & Mathematica. Task-based interviews were conducted with each participant throughout…

Fifty-five college students participated in a study investigating the effect of field dependence and time limitations on the solution of mathematics word problems and visual interpretation problems. Field-independent (n=25) and field-dependent (n=30) subjects represented the upper and lower thirds on the Hidden Figures Test. Field-independent…

Performance on standardized figural analogy tests is considered highly predictive of academic success. While information-processing models of analogy solution attribute performance differences to quantitative differences in processing parameters, the problem-solving literature suggests that qualitative differences in problem representation and…

Difficulties facing learning disabled (LD) students in problem solving are reviewed and an approach is proposed to help them make better use of the learning strategies available to them. A cognitive learning style approach to LD students is introduced, followed by an analysis of problem solving and the stages of information processing (attention,…

A study examined the possible differences in home training received by Hispanics and Anglos, the development of particular problem-solving styles as a result of home training, and possible differences between Hispanics and Anglos in problem-solving styles. A questionnaire was used to investigate home teaching style, actualization of…

This two-part study began with a replication, statistical validation, and extension of the Karmiloff-Smith and Inhelder study of children's construction of theories about balance. The 128 subjects (ages 4 to 6) were videotaped as they tried to balance blocks on a fulcrum. A scale was developed to assess the degree to which the child's performance…

This study investigated the effects of solution-oriented and strategy-oriented feedback when using interactive computer-assisted instruction. The feedback confirmed problem solving strategies that were either similar to the learner's cognitive strategies (i.e., spatial strategies) or different from the learner's cognitive strategies (i.e.,…

The design and architecture of two user-controlled, computer-based problem analysis environments in classical mechanics are discussed. In the expert-like environment, the user analyzes problems according to a hierarchical concept schema consistent with how experts analyze novel problems in physics. In the second environment, the user searches a…

While evidence is mixed about whether aggressive children generate fewer alternative solutions to social problems than do nonaggressive children, research has found consistent deficiencies in the qualitative kinds of solutions that aggressive children produce. This study assessed salience effects on the abilities of aggressive and nonaggressive…

Transitional situations, such as those experienced by work study students, may create cognitive difficulties by requiring people to simultaneously use both a learning and a use logic. To examine this phenomenon, a problem solving task (electrical schemata of a washing machine) was administered to 43 full time students and 51 work study students…

The purpose of this study was to relate children's cognitive processing capabilities and their grade level to their performance and to the strategies they used when working addition and subtraction problems. From two sets of data which assessed memory capacity and cognitive processing capacities, six groups of children with different cognitive…

Information about individuals' representations of problems was obtained from studies on reasoning and problem categorization. College students (N=62) participated in a study of the transition from concrete to formal reasoning using the pendulum and chemical yellow tasks. Over a 10-12 week period, 47 students participated in 10 training sessions on…