Analyzed students' reasoning with fractions. Found that skilled students applied strategies specifically tailored to restricted classes of fractions and produced reliable solutions with a minimum of computation effort. Results suggest that competent reasoning depends on a knowledge base that includes numerically specific and invented strategies,…

Analysis of Anglo or Hispanic ninth-graders' (n=244) reports on coping strategies showed that females engaged in social relationships and creating change, either in actual or cognitive terms, more frequently than males. Boys tended to rely on stress reduction activities or diversions. Ethnicity tactics were also noted. (RJM)

Presents seven activity structures for Internet-based problem solving projects to aid teachers in designing effective educational telecomputing experiences that can be curriculum-based and adapted to learning needs and preferences of students. These projects include information searches; electronic process writing; sequential creations; parallel…

Describes an instructional framework for teaching advanced cognitive skills in postsecondary education, highlighting specific teaching strategies that community and technical college educators may use to encourage critical thinking among students. Includes a description of content, teaching methodologies, and sequence of student development.…

Interviewers asked (n=10) 6th- and (n=10) 10th-grade students to solve nonroutine number problems. Task analysis of perseverers, those students who continued after reaching "dead-ends," found that students who were ultimately successful were more inclined to be flexible in their strategies. (28 references) (MKR)

Reports on how a school-university partnership used Virginia's Public Education Network to help third graders learn about metamorphosis in insects and the scientific method of experimentation, observation, and data collection. (MKR)

Argues that expanding the policy infrastructure for resolving family-related disputes provides potential advantages at both the micro- and macrosystemic levels. Mediation, as a collaborative model, has proven effective in resolving family conflicts. Recommends that policies incorporate mediation into family-related disputes and into the…

Investigated the power strategies used to resolve conflict by two groups of black South African children. Showed that the use of power strategies was highly influenced by the children's sociometric status: popular children chose more bilateral strategies, while rejected children favored unilateral power strategies. Gender is an important predictor…

Observed behaviors of 37 female and 23 male Australian preschoolers. Found that only 20% engaged in thematic pretend play (linked to perspective taking, language development, impulse control, divergent problem solving) whereas 24% used cooperative social play (linked to divergent problem solving). Results suggest need for assistance in the…

Proposes analogy as the central mechanism of knowledge acquisition in formal domains. Discusses experimental data on preschoolers' knowledge of one-to-one correspondence and college students' understanding of force decomposition. Suggests that a knowledge base domain is a thematically organized knowledge structure and that thematic relations in a…

This article explains how cooperative learning techniques can be used to teach interpersonal social skills, describes the cognitive-behavioral model for treating deficits in social problem-solving skills, and outlines the critical steps for using peers as social skills trainers in classrooms with antisocial students. (DB)

The relationship between organizational support and satisfaction with a collaborative problem-solving structure called the Teacher Assistance Team (TAT), which assists general education teachers concerning special needs students, was studied with 161 TAT members and 127 elementary school consumers of TAT services. Organizational supports involved:…

In this interdisciplinary unit for grade six, kids' natural fascination with heroes is channeled to a consideration of the values and actions needed to solve global problems. Students are exposed to positive, nonviolent role models, creative thinking, problem solving, and creating artwork that expresses thoughts on environmental issues. (LZ)

Moral choice for educational administrators involves using conventional democratic principles as well as postconventional actions grounded in principles valued by administrators that are not covered by conventional morality. Presents two case studies involving the application of democratic principles and the formation of independent judgment in…

Examines the writings of Burbules and Young, two major educational theorists committed to promoting and understanding the practice of dialogue in educational contexts, focusing on Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative action. Their works have shown the necessity for researchers to move across disciplinary boundaries and developing theories of…