Suggests that although school counselors cannot conduct family therapy, brief interventions with functional families can be successful. Presents a checklist for evaluating family functionality in terms of (1) time frame of problem behavior; (2) family structure; and (3) problem-solving skills. Problem solving and communication skills are…

Describes the application of a management concept called Quality Circles to educational settings. Suggests the use of Student Life Improvement Circles involving student volunteers who consider problems dealing with student life. Presents two examples of the techniques, one focusing on process and the other on task. (JAC)

Identifies and discusses barriers in the helping relationship that are erroneously labeled resistance. Proposes a transactional perspective to illuminate social and organizational barriers to the helping process. From this view an essential professional function emerges, responsibility for dealing with obstacles to the counselor client…

The important contribution of economic analysis in the legal classroom is not as a set of rules to solve legal problems, but as a way to provide a different perspective on underlying social arrangements with which the law is concerned. (MSE)

"Compupoem" is a program that helps students write poems, emphasizes process/product, and encourages divergent problem-solving. A description of the program, sample student session, and an example of a completed poem are provided. The Computers and Poetry Project which produces elementary/secondary-level, interactive poetry-writing…

Discusses use of computer courseware in gifted programs, provides an overview of possibilities for using computers with gifted students, and reviews available courseware for drill and practice, tutorials, simulations, problem solving, and educational games, with particular reference to application for teaching higher level thinking skills.…

Describes work with kindergarten children to improve their development of estimation, decision making, divergent thinking, directionality, numerical concepts, and creative problem solving skills through learning to program and control the robot Big Trak, a truck which moves along the floor in response to their commands. (EAO)

Describes rationale for and advantages of using programed study aids in solving organic chemistry problems. Includes examples of these programed, multi-step aids which provide leading questions, factual information, and in some cases, the logical thinking required to arrive at correct (although short) answer. (JN)

Written clinical simulation problems in forced-choice and essay formats were used to compare the performance of medical students with varying levels of clinical experience at the conclusion of their pediatric rotations. Clinical simulation problems failed to demonstrate responsiveness to development and maturation in the problem-solving approach…

Attitudes of pre- and in-service teachers toward problem solving are discussed, and how to provide successful problem-solving experiences is described. Both formal and informal methods are included. (MNS)

Describes some commands, simple programing procedures, and applications of the programing language LOGO, including its powerful recursive feature and its value in teaching problem solving. A listing of LOGO graphics packages includes details of software and print materials, prices, and microcomputers that will support the packages. (EAO)

Fourteen probability activities are presented, categorized as activities with impossible and certain events, mystery bags, decks of cards, dice, spinners, and flipping. They help children develop an intuitive understanding of probability. (MNS)

A holistic approach to helping teachers cope with burnout and stress necessitates dealing with problems on several fronts simultaneously. Strategies for changing negative attitudes, understanding reasons for tensions, learning to relax, and increasing job satisfaction and self-esteem are outlined. (PP)

Demonstrated is a covariance principle that causes the observer to assume that if one aspect of a two-dimensional figure (its perimeter or its area) is conserved, the other aspect must also be conserved (pseudo-conservation). Mentally retarded individuals, assuming no such fixed relationship, correctly judged the changed state of the nonconserved…

Proposes six universals of computing in education--word processing, problem solving with the BASIC language, databases, network data banks, electronic spreadsheets, and statistical calculation systems--which could be applied to almost any microcomputer with a disk drive, printing device, BASIC, and appropriate software packages. (EJS)