Developing critical numeracy is important in a society where mathematics plays a particular and significant role. One way of helping learners to develop the level of numeracy required to participate in society is by exploring ideas embedded in rich, accessible tasks. These can be linked to contexts that have relevance in their lives. One…

Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting at age 8 years and growth in child externalizing behavior from age 8 to age 10 (N = 251). Mothers and fathers provided reports of harsh parenting and their children's externalizing behavior; children also provided reports of harsh…

Field dependence/independence cognitive style was found to relate to general academic achievement and specific areas of mathematics; in the majority of studies, field-independent students were found to be superior to field-dependent students. The present study investigated the relationship between field dependence/independence cognitive style and…

The paper presents findings of primary school children's performance on classification and generalisation tasks to demonstrate the fundamental connection between their verbal thinking processes and problem-solving, on the one hand, and the practical activities of their society and culture, on the other. The results reveal that, although children…

A lot has been said about what to teach in ICT in primary and secondary education. There are serious discussions even debates about it. Much less has been said about why ICT should be taught. [1] Competences are related actions and tasks done by people (somebody is competent in a certain field if they are able to solve common tasks related to that…

This study explored preschool age and gender differences in help-seeking within the theoretical framework of scaffolded problem-solving and self-regulation (Bruner, 1986; Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978; 1986). Within-subject analyses tracked changes in help-seeking among 62 preschoolers (34 boys, 28 girls, mean age 4.22 years) solving a challenging…

The purpose of this study was to examine how selected linguistic components (including consistency of relational terms and extraneous information) impact performance at each stage of mathematical word problem solving (comprehension, equation construction, and computation accuracy) among students with different levels of computation achievement. …

Ever had a roommate? Then you know that it can be difficult to share housekeeping duties. This article uses game theory to analyze situations in which there is a task to be done and two people who might do it. We then use our analysis to consider what game theory tells us about the gendered division of household labor.

Web-based problem-solving, a compound ability of critical thinking, creative thinking, reasoning thinking and information-searching abilities, has been recognised as an important competence for elementary school students. Some researchers have reported the possible correlations between problem-solving competence and information searching ability;…

This research team has developed a learning trajectory on 3D visualization for elementary children. This paper focuses on the interchange among the three Spatial Operational Capacity framework representations, namely, 3D models, 2D conventional diagrams, and semiotic abstract representations, and the critical role of a dynamic computer interface…

This study investigates the processes through which achievement motivation guides the selection of coping strategies which in turn affects environmental mastery post-failure feedback. Seventy-six college students received failure feedback after completing a professional aptitude test. Findings showed that gender moderated the relationship between…

John Dewey discussed the dry school curriculum a century ago. One of the "evils" was a simplified curriculum having an outward appearance of mathematics. Dewey posited that such a simplified curriculum deprived students of opportunities to experience the thought-provoking character of the accumulated wisdom found in human knowledge. Dewey's…

Students often make errors when trying to solve qualitative or conceptual physics problems, and while many successful instructional interventions have been generated to prevent such errors, the process of deduction that students use when solving physics problems has not been thoroughly studied. In an effort to better understand that reasoning…

In "MT218" the author looked at the possibility of basing a classroom activity on a simple, though not totally transparent, number-theoretic result. In this article he considers another relatively straightforward idea from number theory that could be used either as a lesson starter or as the basis of a more substantial task, requiring students to…

Psychophysical reverse-correlation methods such as the "classification image" technique provide a unique tool to uncover the internal representations and decision strategies of individual participants in perceptual tasks. Over the past 30 years, these techniques have gained increasing popularity among both visual and auditory psychophysicists.…