This article describes an alternate way to utilize a circular model to represent thirds by incorporating areas of circular segments, trigonometric functions, and geometric transformations. This method is appropriate for students studying geometry and trigonometry at the high shool level. This task provides valuable learning experiences that…

Many innovative approaches to education such as problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry learning (IL) situate learning in problem-solving or investigations of complex phenomena. Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) grouped these approaches together with unguided discovery learning. However, the problem with their line of argument is that IL and…

This study is a third in a series of studies that examined students' information seeking and problem solving behaviors while interacting with one of two types of web-based representations of an ill-structured instructional design case: hierarchical (tree-like) and heterarchical (network-like). A Java program was used to track students' hypermedia…

This study implemented a three-stage problem-based estimation instruction scenario and combined it with mobile technology to provide elementary teachers with an effective e-tool for observing student estimation and leading effective class or group discussions on the selection and assessment of appropriate strategies for solving daily estimation…

As distributed problem-based learning (dPBL) emerges as an interactive online methodology, it is necessary for instructional designers who want to develop this approach to understand the practices experienced designers of dPBL recommend. This phenomenological study examined the practices that designers of dPBL use and recommend. Ten experienced…

Based on the notions of social and socio-mathematical norms we investigate how these are established during the interactions of pre-service teachers who solve mathematical problems. Norms identified in relevant studies are found in our case too; moreover, we have found norms related to particular aspects of the problems posed. Our results show…

In this article, the author presents five problems that are representative of some of the "movie problems" that he has used on tests in various courses, including reactor design, heat transfer, mass transfer, engineering economics, and fluid mechanics. These problems tend to be open-ended. They can be challenging and can often be worked a variety…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) connects standards-based content to real-world scenarios through the use of projects to improve student achievement. By engaging students in authentic problems that do not have a predetermined solution, students learn both subject matter and critical 21st-century skills. This "Focus On" addresses what…

This study investigated whether using multimedia-based instructional material in a problem-based social studies simulation enhances student learning about world issues, increases interest in social studies, and generates positive attitudes toward the instruction. The GlobalEd Project, a Web-based international negotiation simulation embedded in…

The professional expertise of educational leaders has been defined through the lens of problem-solving processes. Problem-based learning has therefore become an increasingly popular instructional approach in principal preparatory programs. As such, this study represents an initial attempt to explore learning from success (i.e., success-based…

Gaps between teaching practices and research recommendations have been well documented. One challenge for research is in understanding the processes and systems that promote a bridging of these gaps. A year-long study with four primary teachers documented ten support mechanisms, or connection levers, that the teachers raised as important for…

One way of implementing project-based science (PBS) is to use problem-based learning (PBL), in which students formulate their own problems. These problems are often ill-structured, mirroring complex real-life problems where data are often messy and inclusive. In this article, the authors describe how they used PBL in a ninth-grade biology class in…

There is an increasing acceptance in the education literature and in classroom settings for "best practice" to be linked with verbal clarification of knowledge and reasoning, ideally in collaborative contexts where students construct both group and individual knowledge. Problem-based learning (PBL) is one such classroom context in which…

There is a scarcity of research regarding help seeking in the context of computer learning environments providing on-demand help, a context in which help-seeking skills appear critical for learning [Aleven, V., Stahl, E., Schworm, S., Fisher, F., & Wallace, R. (2003). "Help seeking and help design in interactive learning environments." "Review of…

This article describes a series of data-based Green Map learning exercises positioned within a problem-based framework and examines the appropriateness of projects like these as a form of geography education. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational technique that engages students in learning through activities that require creative problem…