Describes an open-ended, inquiry-based chemistry lab in which students design and construct snow globes. Encourages the development of problem solving skills. (DDR)

Describes a mathematics trail created on the campus of Exeter Academy and in the town of Exeter, New Hampshire. A series of problems and puzzles enabled teachers to teach mathematics outdoors. Novel questions were created to permit students to look at things from a different perspective. Participants were often inspired to create questions of…

Presents a study of problem-solving activities in a hypermedia representation of a theorem-proving problem. Qualitative analyses of user activities and responses to questions asked while using a system called HUGH&ME are described. The need for hypermedia-based tools to support expression and refinement of reasoning during problem solving is…

Describes computer simulation programs that take elementary and secondary students exploring. One has students act as Magellan commanding his ship to reinforce history, geography, decision-making, and resource management skills. Another has students use problem-solving skills to venture across oceans and find trading routes to the Orient. (SM)

A personal experience is described concerning problem solving that incorporates the computer to help generate multiple examples of proposed conjectures as solutions. The positive potential of technology to allow students of mathematics to experience the process of discovering mathematics through conjecture and generalization is emphasized. (MDH)

Urges teachers of gifted students to allow students unstructured recreational computer time in the classroom to encourage student exploration and discovery, to promote creativity, to develop problem-solving skills, and to allow time to revisit programs and complete their own tasks. Different types of educational computer programs are referenced.…

Uses of Dynamic Geometry Software (DGS) are often limited purely to a verifying role. Presents a case study that emerged from a project in which DGS formed an integral part of the pedagogical arrangement. The study demonstrates how the contrasting power of DGS might be utilized in a guided discovery setting. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/ASK)

Children's natural propensity for wonder is important to learning. Educators play a vital role in keeping that sense of wonder alive; educators must not merely supply explanations, but must move young children toward solving their own problems through active exploration, discovery, and reflection--processes that are pertinent to our responses in…

Young children are born scientists, exploring everything in their world around them. Yet, many teachers still find it hard to integrate science into the daily schedule. However, open-ended science or discovery centers are a perfect way for teachers to help students develop science processes and build literacy skills while they integrate science…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an experiential form of learning centered around the collaborative investigation and resolution of "messy, real-world" problems. This book offers opportunities to learn about problem-based learning from the perspectives of teachers, students, parents, administrators, and curriculum developers. Chapter 1 tells…

A testing procedure used by J. W. Getzels and M. Csikszentmihalyi (1964) to gauge the relationship between problem finding and creativity in art students was employed in a study designed to determine if the same relationship existed in writers. Subjects were middle school students identified as either creative or noncreative by two separate…

This document begins with a discussion of the author's approach to instruction in a mathematics laboratory. This discussion includes an enumeration of types of desirable or necessary equipment and advice on the management of a laboratory. The author examines issues related to achievement and readiness for more traditional school experiences in…

The Action Socialization Experiences (ASE) presented in this guide are modified Outward Bound initiative tests developed at the New Jersey School of Conservation to be used as an introduction to group problem solving. The ASE process is described as follows: teachers are assigned a specific problem for a 2-hour period and briefed on techniques of…

Described is the nature of scientific enterprise, the nature of thinking and problem solving, and the nature of science as an adventure. It is suggested that teachers of science could use this book to help make science education a liberating and intellectually stimulating experience. It is a book which treats exhaustively the theoretical and…

Describes activities in a mathematics class for six-year-olds. The article makes several points, including: working independently is very absorbing; investigative work is as important as algorithms; and children working in groups can achieve more than even the brightest child working alone. (PK)