University students' answers to a "Minds on Physics" problem revealed six distinct approaches to the solution. Discusses implications for teaching and assessment. (Author/WRM)

Introduces an activity in which students design and experiment to determine the mass of a sample of copper without using a balance. Uses water displacement to find the mass of copper. (YDS)

Paints a different picture of students' reasoning with meiosis as they solved complex, computer-generated genetics problems, some of which required them to revise their understanding of meiosis in response to anomalous data. Students were able to develop a rich understanding of meiosis and can utilize that knowledge to solve genetics problems.…

Uses environmental impact analysis as a unifying theme to provide students with real problem-solving experiences without neglecting the principles and theories of the basic scientific disciplines undergirding environmental science. Provides information about stressed stream analysis, which connects environmental impact analysis and Great Lakes…

Points out the importance of motivation in student learning and the difficulties of maintaining motivation among students. Makes some suggestions for keeping students motivated. (YDS)

Summarizes the role of analogies in moving science forward and discusses the usefulness of generating analogies in the science learning process. (Author/YDS)

Describes a freshman seminar course designed to help students develop academic and intellectual survival skills and adjust to university life and increase academic success as well as increase retention rates. (YDS)

Describes knowledge for teachers as curriculum designers and a framework for interdisciplinary unit development. Includes an example of the framework in action. (Author/MM)

Physics problems presented by teachers or in textbooks are usually quantitative and offer only one solution. Suggests that getting students to solve qualitative problems and confronting them with multiple solutions can help them develop conceptual understanding and robust problem-solving strategies. (Author/ASK)

Points out student struggles with the determination of empirical and molecular formulas and introduces a teaching approach to increase student understanding. Uses scenarios to present the experimental data before presenting the problem. (YDS)

Discusses traditional problem solving approaches. Reports that both high school students and college freshmen struggle with proportional reasoning and introduces a new method for quantitative problem solving at the high school level. (Contains 33 references.) (YDS)

One of the most important review topics the author teaches in middle school is the use of metric measurement for problem solving and inquiry. For many years, she had students measuring various objects around the room using the tools of metric measurement. She dutifully taught hypothesizing, data collecting, and drawing conclusions. It was…

From the start of the year, the author's goal is to teach his students to be metacognitive thinkers. This means that they will think about what they are doing during each step of the inquiry process. The author uses a variety of methods to enculturate students into using the thinking processes and developing the dispositions necessary for them to…

In this paper we focus on some of the findings of the science education research community in the area of representations and problem solving. Problem solving depends on the construction and manipulation of mental models (internal representations) in the mind. A large knowledge base (declarative, procedural, strategic, situational, and schematic…

Learning is a changing phenomenon, depending on the advances in theory and research. This book presents a relatively new approach to learning, based on meaningful human activities in cultural practices and in collaboration with others. It draws extensively from the ideas of Lev Vygotsky and his recent followers. The book presents ideas that…