Data from international comparisons of educational performance provided by the PISA study show Russia is among those countries that are not highly ranked on students' basic skills, and is poorly ranked on ability to apply knowledge to problem solving. Data also show large regional differences within Russia. (Contains 29 notes, 2 tables, and 6…

Early in my career someone else reported that the best indicator of success in calculus-based physics (CBP) at our school was whether students had taken mathematics in a certain region of New Brunswick. I sat down with a very longtime mathematics teacher and asked him what he thought students should know in mathematics after high school to succeed…

A ladder network constructed by an elementary two-terminal network consisting of a parallel resistor-inductor block in series with a parallel resistor-capacitor block sometimes is said to have a non-dispersive dissipative response. This special ladder network is created iteratively by replacing the elementary two-terminal network in place of the…

This article describes a manualized social skills intervention for children with peer relationship problems developed by Milich and colleagues (Milich et al., 1995, 2004). The program includes deficits-based components and problem-solving/anger-management components. This intervention is meant to be delivered in a group format over 8 sessions. It…

An example about the use of everyday phenomena in teaching general chemistry is given. Students have a greater appreciation of the principles of chemistry if they can see the relevance to their lives. Fluorine compounds in dental applications (as topical or as systemic use) provide an excellent context in which to review core content of general…

The influence of metacognition on learning and problem solving has been demonstrated, and it is becoming increasingly clear that promoting metacognitive activity can produce substantial improvements in problem solving and learning in chemistry. This article reports the development and validation of an instrument designed to evaluate students'…

The author describes an action research project given to masters-level preservice teachers in her educational psychology classes to help them connect the theories they are learning with educational problems they have observed or experienced. Students' responses on a six-item survey indicated that they valued the better understanding of how…

In this article, modified cognitive strategy instruction in writing (CSIW), a cognitive strategy instructional model is described. Modified CSIW was designed based on two effective instructional models: cognitive strategy instruction in writing (CSIW) and self-regulated strategy development (SRSD). Modified CSIW provides tailored instruction to…

We study the turning point problem of a spherical pendulum. The special cases of the simple pendulum and the conical pendulum are noted. For simple initial conditions the solution to this problem involves the golden ratio, also called the golden section, or the golden number. This number often appears in mathematics where you least expect it. To…

This article describes a mathematically rich problem about giant pencils, which encourages students to reason proportionally. (Contains 3 figures.)

This article relates how a class of elementary preservice teachers used technology to share their thinking about a topic that is traditionally difficult to model and discuss--dividing fractions. One type of technology they used, a digital camera, was familiar to most students, but the other type, a SMART Board[TM], was relatively unfamiliar.…

To deeply understand proportional reasoning, students must be able to differentiate proportional situations from nonproportional situations. Unfortunately, the emphasis on the use of proportional strategies in middle-grades mathematics has led students to develop a disposition to associate certain characteristics of problem formulation with the…

Counselors often engage in conflict mediation in professional practice. A model for understanding the complex and subtle nature of conflict resolution is presented. The ecosystemic complexity theory of conflict is offered to assist practitioners in navigating the fog of conflict. Theoretical assumptions are discussed with implications for clinical…

Energy is a critical concept in physics problem-solving, but is often a major source of confusion for students if the presentation is not carefully crafted by the instructor or the textbook. A common approach to problems involving deformable or rotating systems that has been discussed in the literature is to employ the work-kinetic energy theorem…

Exploring our patent system is a great way to engage students in creative problem solving. As a result, the authors designed a teaching unit that uses the study of patents to explore one avenue in which scientists and engineers do science. Specifically, through the development of an idea, students learn how science and technology are connected.…