Many teachers have designed lessons for students who will be working in groups to discuss and solve a problem. After investing time in constructing an interesting problem, creating strategically designed groups, and introducing the problem carefully, teachers may be left wondering how to help students collaborate to make sense of mathematical…

According to self-determination theory, social contexts that support students' basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness foster motivation toward behaviors that are valued in that social context. This study investigated the socio-contextual elements of a learning environment that support or undermine students' basic…

A comparative analysis is presented of adolescent participation in three-person family problem-solving groups, involving five families with an adolescent diabetic and three families with an adolescent with no diagnosed illness. Observation and interaction analysis of family problem-solving in a laboratory setting were used, as families were asked…