Students should be encouraged to focus on a big mathematical idea and to look for connections between problems and solution strategies. This unified view suggests that the students are developing computational fluency with fractions.

Four experiments investigated transformation problems with insight characteristics. In Experiment 1, performance on a version of the 6-coin problem that had a concrete and visualizable solution followed a hill-climbing heuristic. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the difficulty of a version of the problem that potentially required insight for…

We focus on a major difficulty in solving combinatorial problems, namely, on the verification of a solution. Our study aimed at identifying undergraduate students' tendencies to verify their solutions, and the verification strategies that they employ when solving these problems. In addition, an attempt was made to evaluate the level of efficiency…

Answers to mathematical problems come in all forms and most come with a variety of questions. Students often forget to ask questions once they have found an answer. This paper suggests that students would always benefit by questioning answers.

A multicultural curriculum affirms and includes all people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language, religion, physical ability, or mental ability. The goal is to reduce prejudice and bias by discussing these issues. The Bloom/Banks curriculum framework was developed as a model for creating multicultural gifted…

In this paper we focus on some of the findings of the science education research community in the area of representations and problem solving. Problem solving depends on the construction and manipulation of mental models (internal representations) in the mind. A large knowledge base (declarative, procedural, strategic, situational, and schematic…

The theme of the 38th meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME 38) and the 36th meeting of the North American Chapter of the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA 36) was "Mathematics Education at the Edge." Academically, the theme provides opportunities to highlight and examine…

The Spanish educational system will require certain changes in order to achieve the Bologna objectives for the European Higher Education Area, including a more professional profile, with new activities and roles for both students and teachers, who must assume new skills that will affect concepts and attitudes related to the teaching and learning…

In 1994, the National Arts Education Association created a research agenda to address major research issues in the field of visual arts education for the purpose of examining, negotiating, and modifying commonly held beliefs in the field of art education. Research by arts educators has done much to inform visual arts education theory and practice,…

This multi-case qualitative study, conducted in two elementary schools, observed the self-efficacy experiences of 67 5th grade mathematics students in daily lessons. Four classrooms were observed a total of 40 times for 30 minutes each. Two classrooms each used traditional instructional materials and standards-based instructional materials.…

Introduction: There is no doubt, Social Studies as a course of discipline that gained its entrance in Nigeria School Curriculum shortly after its independence, precisely, 1963 is at its infancy. A discipline of such nature that came when there was eagerness for a course of study that could assist in understanding and finding solutions to the…

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,…

This discussion of some of the research literature that is relevant to the issue of teaching thinking provides descriptions of hypothetical, ideal thinkers, and problem solvers; considers the problem of teaching thinking and problem solving; and explores the issue of evaluating programs so that they can be revised and improved. Following Bransford…

A description is given of a Summer Critical Skills Institute program developed under the aegis of a number of private corporations in conjunction with several educational agencies. This program provides opportunities for teachers to learn how to foster students' problem solving abilities. The teachers, working directly with young learners and…

Methods are suggested to stimulate learning disabled children to develop the metacognitive skills of: (1) reflecting on what they already know, (2) devising a plan for attacking the problem, (3) monitoring progress, and (4) evaluating the outcome of the plan. (DB)