Teachers and students alike have happily subjected themselves to a hanging-strings experiment, only to find themselves face-to-face with their own inability to break out of standard modes of approaching learning situations. Author used the strings problem as a theme in discussing the weaknesses of exclusively systematic education. (Editor/RK)

The purpose of this paper was to present specific instructional objectives and learning hierarchies, which are diagrams of the organization of the skills and prerequisite accomplishments involved in a more complex, general learning outcome, that were developed for a creative problem-solving course. (Author/RK)

A proposal for curriculum reform to increase learner's abilities to solve problems" instead of a memorization of information." (Author/AA)

The present study attempted to elicit covert verbalization with a bit more assurance, as compared to Gagne and Smith, and to compare the effects of instructions to covertly verbalize with instructions to talk out loud while solving problems. (Author/MS)

Twenty gifted learners (11 years old) demonstrated performance superior to 20 average age matched learners on problem solving tasks related to memory and attention, but not on all measures related to performance efficiency and strategy selection. Average Ss used significantly more advanced strategies when continued access to feedback was…

Presents responses to the Stair Skipping problem that appeared in the April, 2000 issue of this journal. (KHR)

The research on worked examples has shown that for novices, studying worked examples is often a more effective and efficient way of learning than solving conventional problems. This theoretical paper argues that adding process-oriented information to worked examples can further enhance transfer performance, especially for complex cognitive skills…

This paper introduces various visual models for the analysis and description of learning processes. The models analyse learning on two levels: the dynamic level (as a process over time) and the functional level. Two types of model for dynamic modelling are proposed: the session trace, which documents a specific learner in a particular learning…

In the mathematics education literature, there is currently a debate about the mechanisms by which group discussion can contribute to mathematical learning and under what conditions this learning is likely to occur. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by illustrating three learning opportunities that group discussions can create. In…

In the late seventies, Guy Brousseau set himself the goal of verifying experimentally a theory he had been building up for a number of years. The theory, consistent with what was later named (non-radical) constructivism, was that children, in suitable carefully arranged circumstances, can build their own knowledge of mathematics. The experiment,…

The authors use proven cognitive and learning principles and recent developments in the field of educational psychology to teach the concept of the sampling distribution of the mean, which is arguably one of the most central concepts in inferential statistics. The proposed pedagogical approach relies on cognitive load, contiguity, and experiential…

Many students who enter colleges and universities seem to be focused on memorizing and regurgitating information rather than on developing critical thinking and problem solving skills. Mentoring is crucial to help these students transition from the current approach to one that will be successful in college. Successful mentoring requires a…

In this article, the author presents an innovative approach to teaching multiplication facts for children in middle school or younger. After introducing the dangers of some contradictions that persist, relating a brief summary of related research and guidelines regarding math facts and their relation to strategic approaches to more complex math,…