Used a standardized simulation to identify problem-solving styles in mental health treatment planning tasks. Experienced counselors (N=34) and trainees (N=34) examined case files and wrote summaries and treatment plans for each case. Results showed problem-solving similarities for the outpatient case but differences for the inpatient case. (BH)

Used a standardized treatment planning simulation and a process tracing strategy to qualitatively examine how mental health clinicians (N=15) solved a typical client management problem. Results showed that respondents used descriptive rather than formal diagnostic terms and that strategies varied with training and experience. (LLL)

Discusses application of systems analysis to social and behavioral science as well as machine and non-machine systems. Presents rationale, principles, techniques, and advantages and disadvantages. (CJ)

The authors describe a simulation game for gifted children which involves three factions--government, business, and labor--who have to come to agreement on questions, contracts, and environmental controls. Sections outline pregame activities, statement of the problem, game objectives, the scenario, characters and their goals, procedures, and…

Discusses the use of the Guided Design teaching method to teach college-level Latin American geography. This method allows the analysis of spatial patterns and processes and critical-thinking skills. (AM)

Describes an experiment which used a computer simulation program to demonstrate that there are characteristic differences between experts and novices when they have to solve problems in complex situations. Tables of data and a list of six references are included. (LLS)

The development of anasynthesis--the process of analysis, synthesis, modeling, and simulation--as applied to decision making and problem solving in education and training is explored, and its future with regard to education is discussed. (RAO)

Describes a project that used simulation to help students improve human relations skills. Principles of human relations and skills important to interviewing, listening, interacting, speaking, and report writing were emphasized. (JOW)

The effects of limiting the availability of immediate feedback while using LOGO were studied for 48 students aged 9 to 11 solving rotation problems. Limiting feedback reduced the incidence of trial and error strategies, and higher level problem solving strategies were apparently used to compensate for the restricted feedback access. (SLD)

This study evaluated computer assisted instruction in social skills using hypothetical animated social situations. Evaluation with eight preschool children with autism (and eight matched normal children) suggested the program's potential for teaching problem-solving skills to children with and without autism. Children with autism were…

The author presents five classroom activities that involve students in the settlement at Jamestown. Activity 1 simulates the problems encountered on the "Godspeed," a fifty-two-foot foot boat with fifty-two passengers traveling across the Atlantic in 1607 for three slow months. In Activity 2, students plot their route, ocean currents,…

If one rolls a coin across a chessboard and it comes to rest on the board, what is the probability that it covers some corner of one of the grid squares? The online magazine "Plus" (2004) posed this problem for students to solve. It is a useful problem for several reasons: it introduces the idea of probability in a continuous sample space, it has…

An experiment compared solving of operational and diagnostic problems after different instruction about a fictitious device. Solution of both kinds of problems was facilitated by instruction (1) that focused on functional relations among components of the device or (2) that focused on states of the individual components. For operational problems,…