This research, conducted between 2020 and 2024 in Romania, investigates the challenges and strategies related to teaching and solving mathematical word problems, based on insights from 163 teachers of grades 0 to 8. The study found that students often experience anxiety when solving word problems, especially during exams, due to difficulties with…

The aim of the study was to explore parents' and teachers' opinions about preschoolers' social problem-solving and the role of parents' educational attainment and family structure in social problem-solving, comparing these results in Hungary (n = 162) and Vojvodina (n = 147). We used Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Social…

A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of progressive time delay (PTD) during small group instruction to teach social problem-solving to preschoolers and to assess generalization to novel contexts. PTD was used to teach children to both name and use a variety of problem-solving solutions. Target…

This research was conducted to examine the views of preschool teachers regarding out-of-school learning environments for mathematics activities and their usage of these environments. The research was conducted out using a phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group consisted of 42 preschool teachers working in…

In this study, the effects of STEM activities on the problem-solving skills of preschool children were investigated. A two-group (study: n = 18 and control: n = 18) pre-test/post-test/retention test experimental design was conducted to collected data using a researcher developed General Information Form and an established Problem-Solving Skills…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education has become a global focus to foster learners' Twenty first-century skills and achieve the sustainable development of society. Design challenges present children with a real-world design problem to solve, as design challenges inspire children to think creatively and apply…

Background: A large evidence base suggests that without effective early intervention, young children who exhibit persistent challenging behavior often face a host of long-term social and academic challenges (Bulotsky-Shearer & Fantuzzo, 2011; Hauser-Cram & Woodman, 2016; Kazdin, 1995; Lane et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2017). Challenging…

Background/purpose: Executive functions are generally considered crucial for an individual's capacity to adapt. This also applies to the domain of professional competencies. However, relatively few scientific studies have specifically examined the role of executive functions in relation to teachers' professional competencies. Didactic competencies…

The empirical data in this study are from a series of two lessons on measurement implemented in seven classes with 119 six-year-old students in Sweden. Both problem solving and problem posing were shown to be important in early mathematics when students in this study worked on one problem-solving task and one problem-posing task on measurement. As…

Reading aloud to young children can positively impact their social and emotional development during preschool. However, further exploration is needed to determine how drama-based read-alouds (DBRAs) could enhance these benefits. In this sense, this study examined the effects of the DBRA intervention on preschoolers' social understanding, social…

Teachers face situations that are difficult to solve, which affect their practices in the classroom. Teachers' ability to face problematic situations been related to educators' adaptive and metacognitive capacity. This study aimed to contrast the recent literature on classroom problems with reports from Chilean teachers regarding what they mean…

This paper presents a teaching experiment with preschoolers, considering games as means for presenting problem-based situations and focusing on the development of game design in connection to problem posing skills. The study was conducted in a focus group of eighteen 5-6-year-old students who participated in game design sessions, compared to a…

Although research has demonstrated that introducing computational thinking (CT) benefits young children, there has been a lack of systematic professional development (PD) opportunities for preschool teachers. The current study investigated the impact of Teaching through Interaction-Plus (TTI-P) on preschool teachers' self-efficacy in teaching CT…

In the study reported on here we aimed to investigate the mediating effect of pre-school teacher candidates' cognitive flexibility between creative thinking tendencies and problem-solving skills. The relational model was used to examine the direct and mediation relationship between the variables. The sample consisted of 516 pre-school teacher…

Child temperament is a predictor of non-verbal ability (i.e., thinking and problem-solving skills that do not fundamentally require verbal language production and comprehension). Given that temperament scores might vary depending on whether the reporter is a parent or a teacher, this study analyzes (a) whether those reports are different and (b)…