Teachers in Saudi Arabia are attempting to advance their teaching in mathematics to address specific reforms by the Ministry of Education. Saudi teachers must improve their students' thinking through engagement in problem solving. This qualitative study investigated how teachers use knowledge of student mathematical learning and how they promote…

This study investigated the use of writing in a statistics classroom to learn if writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes of students as they solved problems. Through analysis of 329 written samples provided by students, it was determined that writing provided a rich description of problem-solving processes and enabled…

The impact of the instruction of a six-step problem solving negotiation procedure on the conflict resolution strategies and classroom behavior of six elementary students with challenging behaviors was examined. Moderately positive effects were found for the following negotiation strategies used by students: independent problem solving, problem…

This study explores how teachers understand and translate curriculum statements into concepts that are better suited to supporting student progress with rich mathematical problem-solving tasks. We report the actions of one experienced teacher of primary mathematics in charting the sequence of concepts and processes relevant to the above issue. We…

This chapter examines the various cognitive tools embedded in a multimedia-enriched PBL environment for middle school science known as "Alien Rescue" and shares the research findings of the use of these cognitive tools in assisting young learners' problem solving. The goal of this chapter is to illustrate strategies for designing…

Creative thinking in Environmental Education (EE) remains greatly under researched topic. Research on teachers' conceptions of creative thinking within EE context is also limited, although their role in facilitating creative thinking in students is well documented. The small-scale qualitative study presented here investigates Greek secondary…

The purpose of this paper is to examine some mathemagenic activities that would transform the internal representations of learners' cognitive structure. The paper pointed out that understanding scientific concept involves the learner's role in translating instructive information into internal representation through the use of some mathemagenic…

This paper justifies the need for, and offers some suggestions on, the selection and implementation of mathematical problems known as dynamic solution exercises (DSEs). The intent of this article is to help provide insight into how mathematics teachers can go about making "vertical articulation" a cooperative and tangible part of the…

The great gorilla jump is an activity designed to allow calculus students to construct an understanding of the structure of the Riemann sum and definite integral. The activity uses the ideas of position, velocity, and time to allow students to explore familiar ideas in a new way. Our research has shown that introducing the definite integral as…

We present a method of analyzing the development of self-efficacy in real time using a framework of self-efficacy opportunities (SEOs). Considerable research has shown a connection between self-efficacy, or the confidence in one's own ability to perform a task, and success in science fields. Traditional methods of investigating the development of…

This study took a broad view of generalization, exploring how classroom instruction within opportunities of implicit generalization may be related to students' abilities to generalize. From an integrated perspective of generalization and problem solving, we investigated twelve lessons of two middle level teachers based on three pattern-based…

Crime Scene for Mathematics Investigation (CSMI) was created as a small group, cooperative, self-selective grouping strategy to allow students to explore mathematics based on their own understanding and perceived readiness, much like the concept and application of literature circles in language arts. In essence, these self-chosen small groups met…

In this article, we report on a semester-long study of the incorporation into our general chemistry course, of advanced algebraic and computer algebra techniques for solving chemical equilibrium problems. The method presented here is an alternative to the commonly used concentration table method for describing chemical equilibria in general…

Which potato chip is healthiest: (1) regular; (2) baked; or (3) sour cream and onion? This problem requires critical and numerical skills in order to read and compare nutrition labels. The question has applications in mathematics and science classrooms but also in teachers' lounges and school cafeterias. It is a problem that addresses the five…

Purpose: Student/trainee perception of their performance can sometimes be inaccurate. This study aims to look at the accuracy of perception to actual performance in short-term intervention style training/instruction. Design/methodology/approach: Two studies conducted using university students in problem solving exercises compared the performance…