Two approaches for teaching a student how to define a problem, acquire pertinent data, generate possible solutions, and optimize them for the patient are described: guided design, originating in engineering education; and problem-based learning, which has roots in medical education. (Author/MLW)

Eighty-nine children between four and nine years of age solved mazes varying in the presumed appropriateness of advance or improvisational planning. Results of the study show that children's planning strategies are adapted to circumstances and suggest that older children may be more proficient in this adaptation than are younger children. (RH)

This special section on cognition and mathematics contains an introduction and 13 articles on advances in the psychology of mathematics learning. The articles focus on how students learn to solve mathematics problems, including arithmetic computation problems, arithmetic word problems, and computer programing problems. (SLD)

Attaining the insight needed to solve the Mutilated Checkerboard problem, which requires discovery of an effective problem representation (EPR), is described. Performance on insight problems can be predicted from the availability of generators and constraints in the search for an EPR. Data for 23 undergraduates were analyzed. (TJH)

Qualitative differences between 24 expert teachers and 24 novice teachers in think-aloud protocols related to solving classroom discipline problems were investigated. Results suggest that expert teachers have procedural plans for solving discipline problems and are able to put more attention into defining the problem than are novice teachers. (SLD)

Five geometry experiments with 127 Australian high school students found that guidance provided in a format requiring attention to two sources of information resulted in performance no better than that on conventional problems. A format not requiring split attention resulted in the superiority of worked examples over conventional problems. (SLD)

Encourages classroom teachers to improve their students' reading and reasoning skills by helping them to interpret math problems correctly. (RAE)

Examines ways in which intelligent tutoring systems can be used to develop models of a student's domain knowledge, problem solving abilities, and learning strategies. Cognitive skills assessment is discussed, and an example of a problem based tutoring system, Qualitative Understanding of Electrical System Troubleshooting (QUEST), is explained. (25…

Results from a study involving 32 learning-disabled, 17 gifted, and 14 normally achieving students from grades 4 and 5 support the idea that learning-disabled children's problem-solving performance reflects a weak integration of metacognitive skills with online processing and problem solution. (SLD)

Illustrates the multiple strategies used by second graders to solve a problem with three addends and how their teacher tries to map their thinking into the system of mathematical notation. Describes the American Federation of Teachers' Thinking Mathematics program that the teacher uses. (MKR)

Presents a hyperknowledge framework of decision support systems (DSS). This framework formalizes specifics about system functionality, representation of knowledge, navigation of the knowledge system, and user-interface traits as elements of a DSS environment that conforms closely to human cognitive processes in decision making. (Contains 52…

Eight sixth grade gifted students verbalized their thoughts as they worked on figural task drawings. Analysis of resulting data indicated that the process variables of Story Weaving, Association Shifting, and Vantage were more frequently evidenced by subjects producing more original products, whereas Content Bound Linking was associated with…

First, second, and third graders (n=33) were observed in classrooms during a three-year study of the development of private speech and its relationship to behavioral accompaniment to task, attention, and task performance. Findings agreed with Vygotskian predictions that private speech promotes effective task-related behavior. (SH)

French tenth grade physics classes were observed as they studied electric circuits over a one-year period. An analysis is presented of tests taken during the year. The main point separating "average" students from "good" ones is their performances in "implicitly difficult exercises," that is, in what appears…

Discusses cognitive processes associated with mental rotation and procedures for presenting and learning orthographic projection. Descriptions include a series of three experiments generated by cognitive load theory that investigated the effects of worked example formats on high school students using two- and three-dimensional representations. (19…