This guide is an attempt to provide a workable methodology for helping college students and citizen groups to identify the most pressing environmental problems in their communities and to find solutions to them. With some modification, it can also be used by high school students who are interested in independent or team studies. The monograph…

This publication was designed to help teachers learn about promising materials, methods, and techniques for teaching creative thinking and problem solving to disadvantaged elementary school children. Two kinds of reviews of published teaching materials for specific grade levels and subject areas are included: (1) reviews of commercially published…

A key assignment for a person with a specialty in local educational improvement is that of providing a school district with leadership in choosing a program that will meet needs for improvement in some area of concern. This unit presents a problem-solving model as one way of identifying problems and their causes, surveying a range of potential…

The focus is on how line graphs can be used to approximate solutions to rate problems and to suggest equations that offer exact algebraic solutions to the problem. Four problems requiring progressively greater graphing sophistication are presented plus four exercises. (MNS)

The Australian Mathematics Competition was designed around the content of common school mathematics, and thus is intended for almost all mathematics students, not just exceptional ones. The competition's conceptual and organizational basis and the three levels of competition papers are described. Sample questions are included. (MNS)

A new version of a standard old problem is presented. Ways of solving, extending, and continuing the problem that make it applicable to many grade levels are discussed. (MK)

Approaches to teaching verbal problems that are interesting and useful are reviewed. Four basic difficulties in teaching problem solving are also covered. (MP)

The article describes four step-by-step methods to sharpen intuitive capacities for problem-solving and innovation. Visionary and transpersonal knowledge processes are tapped to gain access to relatively deep levels of intuition. The methods are considered useful for overcoming internal blockages or resistance, developing organizational mission…

This monograph provides teachers with a wide range of articles on the teaching of problem solving in the mathematics classroom. The first section, on Understanding the Problem, includes articles which provide a sense of the "problem" of teaching problem solving. The second section, on Devising a Plan, provides suggested plans for…

This handbook is a practical guide that can be used by an individual, group, or group leader in planning an active role in community development. Major topics covered are organizing the group; purpose and structure of your organization; how to identify the problem; planning an active program to solve a community problem; planning a large meeting…

Master handouts and transparencies needed for activities and instruction are contained in this document, which is part of a career development unit on coping in the world of work designed to assist students in developing coping strategies to deal with work entry and job adjustment problems. (Other components of the unit--instructor's handbook,…

The purpose of this learning module developed at the University of Houston is to aid the prospective teacher in defining problems so that decision making can be handled in a flexible manner. The student is presented with five situations and asked to define the problem from the point of view of the student, the teacher, and the parent. The module…

This abridgement of "PLANS: Basic Program in Educational Planning and Problem Solving" is a condensation of the training manual for the PLANS model and is aimed at providing a brief presentation of the seven steps of the model. These seven steps identify the problem, define the problem, analyze the problem, generate alternative solutions, select…

This model for solving educational problems consists of four major steps: (1) the problem is defined and verified; (2) solution criteria are established; (3) solution alternatives are surveyed; and (4) a solution is selected. "Problem" is defined as the discrepancy between an existing condition and a desired condition. This model is to be…

Stresses importance of making the social studies curriculum challenging for gifted students. Recommends differentiating between content and process, and discusses a variety of approaches and techniques relevant to a variety of classroom situations. Emphasis is placed on developing higher-level thinking skills in the gifted classroom. (BR)