Reported is a study to identify various methods of conducting laboratory programs of experimental inquiry into problems of physics and to determine the effects on performance test scores of three groups of students (elementary education majors). The curricula programs developed were: (1) a laboratory curriculum of self-directed programs of…

Presents a definition of problem solving and discusses process and stages. An outline is given of particular uses of problem-solving networks. (SA)

Describes an extended investigation of polygons and polyhedra which was conducted in response to a challenge posed in Focus, a newsletter from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Students were challenged to construct a polyhedron with faces that measure more than 13 inches to a side. Outlines the process, including the questions posed…

A Discovery Unit was designed to develop problem-finding behavior in 67 gifted children (grades 3-6). Students identified a problem and its solution using topics of their choice. The results of this two-year pilot project support the need to instruct and practice problem-finding skills at the elementary level. (DB)

Offers practical suggestions for a coherent approach to the teaching of grammar in foreign language classrooms. As a context for the ideas offered, the article synthesizes some of the views expressed by recent writers on this subject. The model outlined provides a basis for work designed to focus more on accurate use of language than on…

Courses designed to teach problem-solving and creativity, which are relatively new additions to college curricula, are discussed, along with their intellectual foundations and research on these two processes. The teaching of these processes involves the following course goals: teaching a specific subject, generally useful skills, and professional…

The new trend in writing instruction is toward "content area writing"--the rhetorical situations and composing problems that students will face in their non-English courses and in their professions. The focus of content writing instruction should be to prescribe the inventional techniques that are common to all forms of writing, and to…

A new core curriculum at Newmann College (Pennsylvania) aims to provide liberal learning through cross-disciplinary instruction without destroying the identity of specific content areas. The Collaborative Probing Model (CPM) provides a basis for the kind of creative self-control that will lead to flexible work within and between disciplines. This…

Based on a study dealing with problem-finding behavior of artists as the first step in the creative process (Getzels and Czikszentmihalyi), this study on the empirical nature of problem-finding included middle school students from a suburban-rural area in Western Pennsylvania. Eight students identified through three measures as creative were…

SIXTY SOURCES ON TEACHING METHODS, MOST PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1958 AND 1964, ARE REVIEWED AS A BASIS FOR POSSIBLE REVISION OF COLLEGE COURSES ON METHODS. EIGHT DEAL WITH DEFINITIONS OF INSTRUCTION AND TEACHING, FIVE WITH THE TEACHER, NINE WITH GROUPING, 15 WITH HEURISTIC METHODS, FOUR WITH PROBLEM SOLVING, AND 19 WITH CREATIVITY. A SUMMARY LISTS THE…

Elementary teachers and principals enrolled in an elementary education graduate course developed this guide which interprets and applies the concept of inquiry teaching and learning. The purpose of the guide is to bridge the gap between the theory of the inquiry process and its use in the classroom. It is written for use by elementary educators as…

Notes need for outdoor education programs for gifted students. Describes a 1981 survey of such programs provided by New York's Board of Cooperative Educational Services and outdoor education centers. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model and Parents' Creative Problem Solving Process are suggested as models to teach gifted students through outdoor…

Describes grade-appropriate weekly activities designed to appeal directly to students by giving them open-ended questions. Activities may be worked on individually, in pairs, or in small groups. This particular set of activities focuses on stories from literature involving measurement, earning money, marketing a product, and setting up a…

A mult tile is a set of polygons each of which can be dissected into smaller polygons similar to the original set of polygons. Using a recursive LOGO method that requires solutions to various geometry and trigonometry problems, dissections of mult tiles are carried out repeatedly to produce tile patterns. (MDH)