Major revision in the U.S. mathematics curriculum since the 1960s have led to significant differences between the mathematics curriculum of the United States and those of many other countries. This study explored how eight Chinese immigrant students, with different cultural backgrounds, mathematics knowledge, and learning styles, learned in an…

This study planned further research aimed at understanding how the current version of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) analytical measure reflects cognitive skills that are important to success in graduate education. Several activities were completed, including selective literature reviews of: (1) cognitive and psychometric research on…

This issue of the journal contains abstracts and critiques of 11 research reports. Three of the reports concern problem solving; the remainder pertain to the following topics: the impact of secondary schooling and secondary mathematics on student mathematical behavior; figural matrices; computer-video instruction in mathematics; equivalent…

A self-report scale was constructed and validated that measures individual differences in objectivism--the tendency to base one's judgments and beliefs upon empirical information and rational considerations. Validity data showed that, compared to people who score low on the Objectivism Scale, highly objective individuals enjoy thinking more, rely…

Designed to supplement already existing life skills instructional materials, this manual consists of 30 lessons to help students develop general, transferrrable skills in four areas--attending behaviors, cognition, self-management, and critical thinking. The following topics are among those covered in the lessons: eye contact, body posture,…

Underlying mental processes are common to all people in spite of individual differences in capability, intelligence, attitude, and motivation. When these processes are combined to form a single, observable entity, they can be interpreted as a universal action pattern of the mind. Educators, psychotherapists, and other individuals interested in…

Four evaluation methods for determining educational policy are objectivism; subjectivism; emotive-imperative; and instrumentalism. For the objectivist, the rationale for undertaking an evaluation is based on empirical verification or non-verification of claims of existing policies or activities. Secondly, the objectivist is interested in…

In order to determine the differential ability of mildly retarded school children to profit from coaching on non-verbal, non-academic reasoning problems and to study their problem solving and conceptual behavior, the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test was given to 72 educable students (IQ 55 to 80) in socioeconomically homogeneous suburban…

One of a series of reports on the findings of studies of child health and welfare services and of matters relevant to providing such services is presented. The primary purpose of the series is to promote the utilization of research findings by those who make policy and those who administer programs in the fields of child health and welfare. In the…

Examines the effect of familiar and unfamiliar task content upon proportional reasoning abilities of ninth grade students. Uses content from chemistry and physics textbooks. Reports that student performance was higher on proportional reasoning problems involving familiar content than with unfamiliar content and that content famililarity interacted…

Results in 487 reports were integrated by meta-analysis to study characteristics of problem solvers, conditions for harder and easier problems, effects of different instructional methods on problem-solving performance, and effects of classroom-related conditions on problem-solving performance. Problem solving related positively to measures of…

An age-dependent answer-selection sequence of answers on multiple-choice tests suggested by previous studies was supported using statistical rather than clinical means. Results with 2,810 students aged 88 months through 241 months given a reading comprehension test twice during a 5-month interval support the systematically connected age-dependent…

This paper is a critique of problem-based learning and focuses on, first, the concept of life as problem-governed and professional practice as problem-solving; and, second, the utility of problem-based learning as a pedagogical approach in pre-professional training. The paper suggests that a problem-based approach to professional education is…

The cognitive processes students use in doing the 1996 science assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were studied using two booklets from the 1993 NAEP science field test. Blocks of items from these booklets, a hands-on task block and either a conceptual/problem solving block or a theme block, were administered to 16…

Imagery use in high school mathematics classrooms was studied. A visual image was defined as a mental scheme depicting visual or spatial information, but this definition was not spelled out to teachers or students, in order to learn what they meant by the concept. Subjects were 13 high school teachers and 54 of their students interviewed over 3…