Presents an activity in which students were required to develop their own house plans, including finding the perimeter of the lot and house and calculating the total area of the house. (ASK)

Examines the information problem-solving (Big Six Skills) approach to performance evaluation, which allows library media specialists to focus on student performance and how it benefits from specific activities. Describes the "Big Six Skills Approach": task definition, information seeking, location and access, use of information,…

Discusses the concept of cooperative learning and its application to library and information skills. Topics include Bloom's Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives; interpersonal skills; circles of learning; meaningful-use tasks, including decision making and problem solving; and suggestions for cooperative activities for library information…

Describes a statewide project in Vermont in which teachers developed a scoring rubric containing criteria that promote a common understanding of what constitutes effective problem solving and the assessment of effective problem solving. (DDR)

Describes an integrated problem-based learning experience for first-year medical students and assesses the effectiveness of the process in identifying basic science issues relevant to biochemical principles. (DDR)

An experiment involving 14 small groups of Swedish students (usually 3 per group) aged 10, 11, and 12 years shows that these students acting in groups and creating shared contextualizations were able to solve mathematics word problems calling for real-world knowledge. Research has shown students acting alone to have difficulty with the same types…

Five problem-based learning activities tested by fourth-grade gifted students are suggested. Each open-ended problem is intended to be worked on by a small group for 30 minutes. Student reactions are quoted and analyzed, noting that students became more willing to take risks, test the properties and limits of their materials, and learn from their…

A study of 74 undergraduates examined whether creativity training and interpersonal problem-solving training are equivalent or complementary. Results showed the training programs were complementary. Each training program specifically affected performance only on related measures of performance. A combination of the training programs affected both…

Academic Systems Corporation is successfully producing courseware in beginning, intermediate, and college algebra using mediated learning, which provides students with instruction and exercises and teachers with feedback on student progress. The courses present students with real-world problems to solve. Users find the courses pedagogically sound…

Explores parent perceptions of education, mathematics education, teachers' roles in education, and computers in education. The use of interviews and a survey is explained; results of a factor analysis are discussed, including responsibility and problem-solving factors; and implications for educational policy are suggested. (LRW)

Discusses the process of learning to construct and interpret representations from a social practice perspective. If students need to construct tables and graphs to complete a project report in mathematics or science, they can learn to consider whether these forms are effective at communicating important information. If students merely complete…

Describes a game used in precalculus that builds interest and confidence in the uses of inverse functions. The game is preceded by a worksheet that enables students to discover that f(x) and f-1(x) are mirror images of the line y=x. (DDR)

Explains the need for scientific and technological literacy, the role of supplementary teaching materials specifically created for this purpose, and the successes and difficulties in creating teaching materials in a workshop. Concludes that science teaching today is not designed to promote literacy and does not assist students in becoming the…

Studied the sociocultural context in which Brazilian children acquire and use everyday mathematics in terms of currency use. Participants were 105 children, ages 4 to 11, and their parents. Found decreased use of currency with increasing age. Children also used currency to aid their problem solving and progressed from global estimates to the…

This clip and send-home feature provides suggestions for parents to help students cope with frustration at school and throughout their lives include reviewing previous coping skills, emphasizing larger goals, and modeling fairness and communication. The paper recommends that parents never criticize teachers in front of students, take student's…