This study examined the use of heuristic problem-solving strategies in math by seventh-graders under three different conditions: working individually; working in groups; and working as cooperative teams. No significant differences were found for the three conditions over a 5-week experimental period on a problem solving post-text (the Maryland…

Although the importance of social skill to interactions with others has long been recognized for clinical individuals, such skills are also of benefit to non-clinical populations. To investigate the potential relationships between social skill and interpersonal conflict resolution tactics, 287 college students (140 males and 147 females) completed…

Three concerns investigated were: (1) the effect of two methods of teaching reading comprehension skills in a content area upon students' problem-solving performance on first-year algebra word problems; (2) the effects of three achievement levels of each assigned factor--reading comprehension, computational mathematics, and mathematical…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students from different academic settings differ in their usage of metacognitive strategies in mathematical problem solving, and if they do, what the differences are. A questionnaire was administered to students at various levels from academic tracks and academic streams requiring them to…

In two studies, the role of biomedical knowledge in the diagnosis of clinical cases by physicians and medical students was explored. Experiment 1 demonstrated a decrease in the use of biomedical knowledge with increasing expertise. This result appeared to be at variance with some findings reported in some but not all of the literature. In…

This paper describes GUIDON-WATCH, a graphic interface that uses multiple windows and a mouse to allow a student to browse a knowledge base and view reasoning processes during diagnostic problem solving. The GUIDON project at Stanford University is investigating how knowledge-based systems can provide the basis for teaching programs, and this…

This research is aimed at diagnosing the problem-solving skill of elementary school children and subsequently improving their competence in early mathematics. To reach this goal, a computer assisted instruction (CAI) program on open sentences, incorporating knowledge about students' problem solving strategies and misconceptions, was constructed.…

Three major approaches to the use of computers in education are examined, serious limitations of each are presented, and questions are raised as to the efficacy of technologolizing education. The drill and practice approach is shown to embody a deterministic, behavioral technology that turns learning into a systematically-designed and…

This study investigated the relationships among the symbolic representation of problems given to students to solve, the mental representations they use to solve the problems, and the accuracy of their solutions. Twenty eleventh-grade science students were asked to think aloud as they solved problems on the ideal gas laws. The problems were…

This study was initiated to design, develop, implement, and evaluate a videodisc-based simulator system, the Interactive Graphics Simulator (IGS) for 6883 Converter Flight Control Test Station training at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. The simulator provided a means for performing task analysis online, developing simulations from the task…

This document provides an evaluation of the Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) for kindergarten through grade 6. Following an introductory chapter is a chapter on the development and nature of CSMP. Chapter 3 discusses CSMP implementation. Total student achievement scores on the Mathematics Applied to Novel Situations (MANS) tests are…

This document focuses on evidence from problem solving case studies which indicate that analogy, extreme case analogies, and physical intuition can play an important role as forms of nonformal reasoning in scientific thinking. Two examples of nonformal reasoning are examined in greater detail from 10 case studies of "expert" problem solving.…

In mathematics, situations calling for reconstruction of a transformation are frequent. In such situations, children aged 6 to 7 concentrate on the states, combining them in different ways. The present research aims to illustrate that difficulties and strategies observed with children 6-7 years old are not specific to this age level, but are also…

A miniconference (consisting of four 60-minute sessions) was organized to contribute to the exploration of frames, forms, and contents of systematic cooperation and interaction between the researcher and teacher in the classroom. These proceedings of the conference include descriptions of the organization, purpose, and background of the…

This issue of the journal contains abstracts and critiques of 11 research reports. They concern: a case study of one child's strategies for mental addition; children's understanding of fractions; computation routines prescribed by schools; models in verbal problem solving; predicting eighth-grade algebra achievement; the effectiveness of…