The aim of this article is to present a scheme for coding and categorizing students' written explanations of mathematical problem-solving activities. The scheme was used successfully within a study project carried out to determine whether student problem-solving behaviour could be positively affected by writing explanatory strategies to…

The role of causal beliefs in people's decisions when faced with economic problems was investigated. Two experiments are reported that vary the causal structure in prisoner's dilemma-like economic situations. We measured willingness to cooperate or defect and collected justifications and think-aloud protocols to examine the strategies that people…

This article draws on Gee's notions of Discourse and specifically Discourse Models to explore Engineering Problem Solving1 and the different ways in which it can be understood in an engineering context. After Gee we attempt to identify aspects of doing, being and valuing that underpin people's Problem Solving Discourse Models. Interviews with…

This is a comprehensive study of the many facets of an entirely online organic chemistry course. Online homework with structure-drawing capabilities was found to be more effective than written homework. Online lecture was found to be just as effective as in-person lecture, and students prefer an online lecture format with shorter Webcasts. Online…

The primary concern in current interaction design is focused on how to help users solve problems and achieve goals more easily and efficiently. While users' sufficient knowledge acquisition of operating a product or system is considered important, their acquisition of problem-solving knowledge in the task domain has largely been disregarded. As a…

How can teachers ensure instruction is aligned with 21st century demands for self-directed, collaborative problem solvers? Practice exercises are not the answer. Instead, here's a book that explains why the key is to use explicit instruction that includes proficient models, specific feedback, and supportive coaching. Rhoda Koenig gives you insight…

Thanks to technological progress the world becomes more and more complicated. People stand in front of new and difficult problems that need to be solved. These are problems, the solutions of which are not universal, and cannot be learned. Many solutions require specific data that cannot be learned, as new data is part of the ongoing generation of…

This article examined, through a Cultural Historical Activity Theory lens, how immersive- or pervasive environments and pedagogical agents could more easily support social collaboration as foundation of contemporary learning theory. It is argued that the fundamentalism-liberationism contradiction (learn "from" versus learn "with" technology) is no…

This paper proposes a compensative model for self-regulated learning in technology education (SRLT) comprised of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational domains. Discussion of the cognitive domain centers on problem-solving and creativity, with a focus on the need to engage students in open-ended assignments in informal contexts and to teach…

The purpose of this study was to examine the technical (psychometric) adequacy of office discipline referrals (ODRs) as a behavioral assessment tool for individual student, data-based decision making within a problem-solving model. Participants were 990,908 students in 2,509 elementary schools. Students were grouped into ODR cut points of 0-1,…

Raffo and Gunter (20087) argue that there is insufficient research which has "systematically examined, categorised and synthesised the types of leadership in schools that might assist social inclusion" (p. 397). In this paper I argue that Wenger's concept of a "community of practice", when applied to the parent-teacher relationship, provides a…

The implementation of authentic learning elements at education institutions in five countries, eight online courses in total, is examined in this paper. The International Virtual Benchmarking Project (2009-2010) applied the elements of authentic learning developed by Herrington and Oliver (2000) as criteria to evaluate authenticity. Twelve…

Grade 3 students were asked to solve a sedimentation problem in a local river. With scientists, students explored many aspects of the problem and proposed solutions. Graphic representation tools were used to help students to better pose the problem. Using questionnaires and interviews, researchers observed students' capacity to pose the problem…

Problem solving has become a central focus of instructional activity in technology education classrooms at all levels (Boser, 1993). Impact assessment considerations incorporating society, culture, and economics are factors that require high-level deliberation involving critical thinking and the implementation of problem solving strategy. The…

We discuss the boundary in the Poincare phase plane for boundedness of solutions to spring model equations of the form [second derivative of]x + x + epsilonx[superscript 2] = Fcoswt and the [second derivative of]x + x + epsilonx[superscript 3] = Fcoswt and report the results of a systematic numerical investigation on the global stability of…