Presents a summary of the studies done by the Edinburgh Centre for Mathematical Education (ECME) on the use of practical activities in secondary schools. Argues that teachers may remain doubtful about the benefits of practical activities until they try them for themselves. (ASK)

Discusses how teachers and instructional designers can encourage critical thinking in students through epistemic games, reflective knowledge-generating activities that can be created for any knowledge domain. Provides examples for various subjects. Presents a method for organizing instructional material into appropriate epistemic forms and for…

Presents an activity to teach students how forests are managed to meet a variety of human and environmental needs. Involves students in thinking about forest uses, animals that live in forests, recreational activities in forests, and forest products. Teams pretend to be forest managers and develop strategies for managing forests for different,…

Discusses models for information skills that include inquiry-oriented activities. Highlights include WebQuest, which uses Internet resources supplemented with videoconferencing; Minnesota's Inquiry Process based on the Big Six model for information problem-solving; Indiana's Student Inquiry Model; constructivist learning models for inquiry; and…

Constructivist theory argues that students construct knowledge for themselves and that each knows the world in a different way. The problem for education is how students can construct an "objectified" knowledge. Outlines an integrative framework for the description of information and problem-solving procedures and a problem-solving…

The exploration, discovery, and generation of attractive two-dimensional designs as an approach to informal geometry and spatial learning is discussed. Six activities with brief instructions are presented. (CW)

These three learning activities are on measuring accessible distances, designing a wind powered generator, and designing a hot dog heater using solar energy. Each activity includes description of context, objectives, list of materials and equipment, challenge to students, and evaluation questions. (SK)

Nine lessons are presented to help teachers incorporate a critical thinking program into their curriculum. The activities related address three skill areas: communication, creativity and problem solving. (IAH)

Four of the author's favorite calculus word problems are presented. These aid students in recognizing and applying concepts in contexts unlike those in typical textbook problems. (MNS)

Describes a learning activity that involves planning a community and then altering the transportation system to meet new specifications. Includes the rationale for the activity, how it fits into the technology education curriculum, and how it was implemented to fit a variety of age and grade levels. (JOW)

Fifth graders at a Virginia school are applying new knowledge about world cultures by constructing artifacts for an Egyptian legacy exhibit. Exhibitions are a key facet of Museums-in-Progress (MIP), a program that links problem-solving activities with the real world. Students learn to develop, install, and interpret an exhibition by touring local…

Presents sample newspaper activities to help students find applications of classroom-taught skills and to give students practice in reading, thinking, discussing, and writing about mathematics. (MKR)

Presented are the basics of this discrete mathematics topic. Several problem-solving techniques are illustrated. Several suggestions for senior projects are provided. (CW)

A six-step method is presented for using problem-solving activities to promote language acquisition in hearing-impaired students. The method emphasizes the communicative uses of language rather than the structure of language. A list of sample problem-solving activities is included. (JDD)

Notes that knowing how to estimate is crucial to becoming a good problem solver. Suggests that young children be exposed to the concept as early as kindergarten in order to learn to apply the skill effectively. Discusses the values of estimation skills and how they can be developed. Outlines five classroom activities that help students develop…