Describes a university consumer affairs course using management tools to improve problem-solving skills. The Interaction Method teaches specific material and enables learning through participation. (SK)

Describes four word-and-picture problems through which students can hone their math skills, all of which involve shopping for goods and calculating prices of items that they would buy. Notes that shopping creates real-life problem-solving situations. (MDM)

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has called for sweeping changes in mathematics instruction, arguing that knowledge should emerge from experience with problems. Deborah Ball's third grade class in East Lansing, Michigan, is a community of youthful mathematicians who argue, concur, and theorize about odd and even numbers. Instituting…

Describes four easy-to-construct board games and puzzles that teachers can use to strengthen their students' mathematical problem-solving skills in both the classroom and the real world. (MDM)

Explores the connection between sports and the Big6 information problem-solving process and how sports provides an ideal setting for learning and teaching about the Big6. Topics include information aspects of baseball, football, soccer, basketball, figure skating, track and field, and golf; and the Big6 process applied to sports. (LRW)

Presents one approach to teaching information-seeking strategies, i.e., brainstorming all possibilities and then selecting the best for a particular situation in relation to the Big6 information problem-solving process. Brainstorming is also useful in task definition and in considering possibilities for presenting information. (LRW)

The need for creative thinking in 21st-century nursing is addressed by Gwynedd-Mercy College's program, which teaches the creative process, problem solving, and critical decision making. Students are challenged to develop innovative health care solutions in individual projects. (SK)

Demonstrates the practical applications of a problem-solving curriculum called Personal Power. Discusses how to begin such a curriculum and describes the content of the program which teaches youth in conflict to weigh the costs and benefits of alternative solutions to problems. Offers a sample lesson in problem solving. (RJM)

This case study examines the application of problem-based learning to the teaching of introductory instructional design (ISD). Suggests that ISD is a dynamic process of problem understanding and problem solution and that ISD instruction should therefore focus more on the problem attributes and not on the generality of the systems approach model.…

Describes the sociocultural theory motivating strategy "transformative communication" as well as a specific dialogue sequence that can be used as a cultural tool for accompanying such interaction. Illustrates the utility of the dialogue sequence in four key episodes within and inquiry-based high school earth science class. (Author/SAH)

Describes design technology, a process used to solve problems and extend human capabilities, used in a third-grade classroom to guide students in problem solving. Includes guidelines that helped the design technology concept work. (JOW)

Discusses training success and describes the inquiry process that provides an opportunity for developing problem-solving skills by learning to structure problems through effective questioning. Considers beneficial outcomes, including gathering and organizing information as part of an active social process; and provides an example of the inquiry…

Describes service-learning programs in three schools: Sullivan Elementary School in North Adams, Massachusetts; Turner Middle School in southwest Philadelphia; and Miami High School in Oklahoma. Identifies common elements in the three programs. Describes what school boards can do to support service-learning programs in their districts. (PKP)

Identifies the misunderstandings and problem-solving strategies of secondary students when solving stoichiometry problems. (Author/CCM)

Describes a fourth-generation ISD (instructional systems development) model, an integrative problem solving system that dynamically adjusts the authoring activities of instructional development by direct reference to a specific learning problem or need. Includes case studies that illustrate the three model components: situational evaluation,…