Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and assess collaborative problem solving (CPS) behaviors in elementary students in science, technology, engineering, arts/humanities and mathematics (STEAM)- related making and to garner students perspectives. We offer a valid way for researchers to understand collaborative processes and for…

When young students engage with activities aimed at improving spatial reasoning, there is potential to also improve learning and performance in practical mathematics problem-solving tasks, scientific inquiries, and other STEM-based tasks. In this study, students worked in pairs to problem solve through 3D construction. The aim was to assess…

The authors challenged their second grade students to design and build a small house for a Skylander toy character that would be economical, yet able to withstand "the elements of wind and rain." While this social studies (economics)/science/math integrated project was completed with second grade students, the lessons presented in this…

The purpose of the current study was to investigate students' overall learning process during the implementation of educational escape-the-room games (EERGs) in classrooms. This study adopted a two-stage case-study methodology, namely single-case and multi-case designs. In the first stage, a well-designed EERG for a Chinese language class was…

When a second-grade class struggled to make sense of the algorithms for multidigit addition and subtraction, attitude and morale were down, and student discourse was at an all-time low. When daily mathematics class started, the teacher was hearing an overall class moan. The instructed needed to turn it around, to find a way to help excite and…

We report a qualitative analysis of elementary school students engaged in collaborative problem solving involving mathematical equivalence tasks. We build on previous research showing that students often use strategies based on either operational or relational understandings of the equal sign. We closely analyze three cases and identify nuanced…

The traditional method of teaching math--showing students how to do a procedure, then assigning problems that require them to use that exact procedure--leads to adults who don't know how to approach problems that don't look like those in their math book. Seeley describes an alternative teaching method (upside-down teaching) in which teachers give…

This practical article presents activities that support previous research suggesting the integration of art with science is beneficial to the learning and cooperative processes of children. The project showcased here highlights the ability of elementary school children to collaborate with their peers for problem solving and critical thinking…

Touchscreens are being integrated into classrooms to support collaborative learning, yet little empirical evidence has been presented regarding how children collaborate using touchscreens in classrooms. In particular, minimal research has been directed towards how teachers can design for and guide children's touchscreen-based collaboration.…

Research on young children's reasoning show the complex relationships of knowledge, theories, and evidence in their decision-making and problem solving. Most of the research on children's reasoning skills has been done in individualized and formal research settings, not collective classroom environments where children often engage in learning and…

Introduction: The study was carried out with children of 2nd, 4th and 6th grades of elementary school in order to explore what and how will children learn from a completely new videogame. Method: We organized children from 2nd, 4th and 6th grades of elemental school, giving them chance to play a freshly released videogame by that time. We formed…

Math content for English Language Learners (ELLs) is unforgiving in terms of the constant need to build specific math and reading knowledge. As a result, ELLs may not only need math support but also reading comprehension support. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a word problem solving strategy called Estratégica…

Finding ways to help primary-grade students overcome difficulties in solving mathematical word problems can be a daunting task for teachers in a regular classroom setting. Student challenges may include: (1) difficulty with vocabulary; (2) lack of confidence when solving problems; (3) confusion on the proper operation to use when solving a…

Describes a study of 120 second-grade and fourth-grade students that explored a self-regulatory approach to problem solving by providing pairs of students with the IDEA model to identify, define, explore, and assess progress in solving computer problems. The use of student journals, classroom debriefings, and observations are discussed. (LRW)

Discussed is the research project that used small-group problem solving as a primary instructional strategy of second grade mathematics for an entire year. The mutual construction of classroom norms for cooperative learning style is illustrated and examples of resulting learning opportunities are given. (MDH)