This study, conducted in the Netherlands, examined the effects of a problem-solving program on students' problem-solving and metacognitive skills. The program consisted of four parts involving one or more aspects of problem solving in the content areas of proportions, geometry, numbers, and solving equations and inequalities. The experimental…

This book provides teachers with effective strategies to help encourage all students but particularly young women who are apprehensive about science. Sections include: (1) Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Success; (2) Specific Tactics for Classroom Success; and (3) Classroom Activities. This monograph features creative activities in life…

This study focused on identifying learning difficulties with a view to incorporating both understanding of those difficulties and methods for minimizing or neutralizing them in multicultural classroom settings. Discussion gives guidelines for teachers to use in analyzing student concepts and approaches to learning, particularly in the…

This paper discusses an experiment designed to determine the effects of a problem-solving approach to instruction (PSAI) on eighth grade Algebra I students. Comparisons were made of the scores from the 1991 and 1993 Subject Area Testing Program--Algebra I of skills taught via PSAI and skills taught traditionally. In 1991 (n=56) eighth grade…

Using a teacher-researcher perspective, a study assessed a preschool storytelling program designed to promote children's narrative development. The program included workshops, child-teacher conferences, and adult and child performances. A preschool class of 17 four-year-olds listened to adult-told stories, rehearsed their own stories with a…

Although the social studies curriculum is ambiguous, controversial, and value-laden, the goal of self-determination demands that Native students acquire certain knowledge and skills in this curriculum area. Of particular interest to Native education are social studies encompassing global education, multicultural education, ethnic studies, and…

This paper discusses whether critical thinking can be taught in the college classroom. It argues that education in general provides the tools for thinking, and therefore, improves the capability for better thinking. The Alverno College faculty, as an example, has improved student critical-thinking ability because the faculty stresses explicitness,…

Three questions were addressed in a Navy experiment in which subjects followed instructions to complete tasks involving several pieces of electronic equipment. First, two instructional formats were compared; a hierarchical menu format containing natural chunks of instruction was not superior overall to a simple step-by-step instructional format.…

This study examined achievement differences between algebra students taught with the non-traditional textbook developed by Saxon and those taught with a "traditional" textbook by Dolciani. Student absences, rate of turning in homework, and ability level were considered, as well as teachers' comments. One Algebra I section in each of…

During its two and one-half years of use, a computerized text editor has proven to be a helpful revision tool for a freshman composition course. Student feedback has helped to overcome initial problems with the system. A streamlined learner's guide, for example, that made formal training in using the computer unnecessary and increased student…

The use of protocols--oral verbalizations of the problem solving process--in a critical thinking and problem solving class offers a number of advantages to students and teachers alike. Protocols help students (1) learn to read problems carefully; (2) focus on the important characteristics of specific problems; (3) slow down their problem-solving…

Mathematical skills and reasoning and their applications are considered as forming one of the basic and essential areas of knowledge and experience that should be available to all Australian children. This collection of essays explaining problem solving in mathematics as an organizing theme for current and future curriculum development is a means…

The purpose of this study was to look intensively at two aspects of mathematics instruction--development and practice. It contrasted the Direct Instruction approach to the development phase of teaching problem solving with a Traditional approach taken from the teachers' manual of four widely used basal textbooks. Seventy-three fourth graders…

Authors looked at ways in which children's interest in and knowledge of 'media culture' provided a basis for classroom learning. (Editor/RK)

One of the common ways of studying history was explored. Oral history, usually resulting in parol use of written documents, helped students see discrepancies in historical writings, discern the differences between an emic and etic point of view, and see how non-historians can compose and present history. (Author/RK)