This dissertation is comprised of three independently conducted studies, linked by investigation into the development of thinking skills deemed necessary for the 21st Century. While educators and policy makers advocate teaching students creative and critical thinking skills to address an increasingly global and complex world, they simultaneously…

The purpose of this study was to explore pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers' analyses of student learning in a video case of mathematics instruction via an online learning forum. The study was conducted in the context of three different mathematics methods courses in a 4-year college in the Midwestern United States. Twenty-six…

A high school drama coach informs assistant principal Laura Madison that the money students earned through fund-raising activities seems to have vanished and that the male assistant principal may be involved in the disappearance of the funds. Laura has to determine how to address this situation. She considers her past experiences with problematic…

This study was aimed at comparing the impact of three types of case-based approaches (worked example, faded work example, and case-based reasoning) on preservice teachers' decision making and reasoning skills related to realistic classroom management situations. Participants in this study received a short-term implementation of one of these three…

This article, the second of a two-part series, features 11 teaching innovations presented at the 2014 Association for Business Communication annual conference. These 11 assignments included leadership and other-focused communication--detecting communication style, adaptive communication, personality type, delivering feedback, problem solving, and…

This study compared the impact of three types of case-based methods (worked example, faded worked example, and case-based reasoning) on preservice teachers' (n=71) decision making and reasoning related to realistic classroom management situations. Participants in this study received a short-term implementation of one of these three major…

This study presents a student-centered teaching model based on concept mapping and problem-solving. The concept map is used as a tool to develop curriculum and evaluate teaching performance. Case-based teaching was implemented on the course of building energy conservation. The results of this study, which include teaching plans, evaluation tools,…

Bayes's theorem is notorious for being a difficult topic to learn and to teach. Problems involving Bayes's theorem (either implicitly or explicitly) generally involve calculations based on two or more given probabilities and their complements. Further, a correct solution depends on students' ability to interpret the problem correctly. Most people…

The purpose of this research study was to explore the process of learning and development of problem solving skills in radiologic technologists. The researcher sought to understand the nature of difficult problems encountered in clinical practice, to identify specific learning practices leading to the development of professional expertise, and to…

Basic and superior reasoning skills are woven into the clinical reasoning process just as they are used to solve any problem. As clinical reasoning is the central competence of medical education, development of these reasoning skills should occur throughout the undergraduate medical curriculum. The authors describe here a method of teaching…

"Help! I'm stuck!" How many times have you heard a student make a similar plea? What do you consider when deciding how to respond? What reasoning is most productive? As part of a large research project, the authors explored these questions with 131 prospective and practicing teachers and found patterns in their reasoning. They began their project…

Clinical case studies facilitate the development of clinical reasoning strategies through knowledge and integration of the basic sciences. Case studies have been shown to be more effective in developing problem-solving abilities than the traditional lecture format. To enhance the learning experiences of students in biomechanics, clinical case…

This study examined preservice teachers' problem-solving skills through the use of an online video case study. Eighty preservice teachers participated in the study with a three-level video presentation by a two-grade-level between-subjects factorial design. The study incorporates a content analysis framework to examine both the components and the…

This article examines the way student teachers make sense of conceptual tools when writing cases. In order to understand the problem-solving process, an analysis of the interactions is conducted. The findings show that transforming practical experiences into theoretical reflection is not a straightforward matter. To be able to elaborate on the…

In response to the diverse requirements of 21st-century police work and the increasing emphasis on community-policing philosophy, the Los Angeles Police Department has implemented changes within its academy curricula and methods of instruction, including the use of adult-learning concepts, a community policing problem-solving model known as…