Within the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" the Understanding proficiency strand states, "Students build understanding when they connect related ideas, when they represent concepts in different ways, when they identify commonalities and differences between aspects of content, when they describe their thinking mathematically and…

The adoption of active learning instructional practices in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses has been shown to result in improvements in student learning, contribute to increased retention rates, and reduce the achievement gap among different student populations. Descriptions of active learning strategies…

Active-learning techniques have been advocated as a means to promote student engagement in lower-division biology courses. In this case study, mini-lectures in combination with active-learning activities were evaluated as strategies to promote a culture of learning and participation in a required botany course. These activities were designed to…

With the current focus in mathematics education on the importance of developing students' conceptual understanding, fluency with the language of mathematics, critical thinking, and working mathematically, teachers are constantly expected to design challenging and investigative tasks that can engage and motivate students in their learning of…

The universities and faculties which educate teachers of mathematics for teaching pupils/students of any age group from pre-school age to higher education carefully monitor and compare valuable results of this research, detect the areas in which the mathematical achievements of pupils should be improved at the national level and propose the ways…

Common examples of graphic organizers include flow diagrams, concept maps, and decision trees. The author has created a novel type of graphic organizer called a decision map. A decision map is a directional heuristic that helps learners solve problems within a generic framework. It incorporates questions that the user must answer and contains…

Describes a study of concept mapping as a means of learning problem-solving skills. Concludes that the concept mapping subjects were significantly more successful at solving biological test questions than were the controls. Reports no significant differences between cooperative and individual mapping and mixed results for gender. (DK)

This information sheet examines three areas: (1) what research tells about problem-solving in chemistry; (2) why students have such difficulty in solving chemistry problems; and (3) if there are some ways of teaching students to solve problems that are more effective than others. From several research studies on problem-solving in chemistry, it is…

The Directed Inquiry Approach to Learning Science Process Skills and Scientific Problem Solving [DIAL(SPS)2] is described. Concept mapping, advance organizers, Vee diagrams, the theme approach, and focusing are used to help students develop science process skills. (KR)

The potential of concept mapping, a learning strategy, coupled with assessments oriented toward problem solving used to facilitate meaningful learning, is examined. How students make and use concept maps in studying and the factors that influence the way they are made and used are discussed. Sample concept maps are included. (KR)

Making connections becomes increasingly important as students proceed through middle school and high school. This book shows ways of embedding connective processes in instruction in grades 9-12. Problems invite mathematical modeling, unify diverse content, call for different representations, and encourage students to look back at their work to…

This book offers broad, practical strategies for teaching science and engineering courses and describes how faculty can provide a learning environment that helps students comprehend the nature of science, understand science concepts, and solve problems in science courses. The student-centered approach focuses on two main themes: reflective writing…