This research centers on implementing Quantitative Reasoning (QR) within a differential equations course at an urban public community college. As a participant in the Numeracy Infusion for College Educators (NICE) faculty development program, I sought to integrate QR skills into my curriculum. Students in the course were introduced to QR goals…

This essay explains that periodic examination of the goals of education is essential for educational institutions to ensure they are adequately preparing students to address the challenges of the present and build a better future. It argues that education is an ethical enterprise, and that clear and shared goals provide education institutions with…

Pedagogical research over the past decade has shown that chemistry courses have high failure rates and low accessibility. The implementation of novel active-learning approaches has great potential to offset these trends. Fundamental concepts that serve as "pinch points" are ripe targets for designing innovative, gamified course materials…

Scientific ideas are often expressed as mathematical equations. Understanding the ideas contained within these equations requires making sense of both the embedded mathematics knowledge and scientific knowledge. Students who can engage in this type of blended sensemaking are more successful at solving novel or more complex problems with these…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of a problem involving superfactorials (a specific product of factorials) that provides an in-depth and comprehensive mathematical experience, encompassing skills that mathematicians view as tantamount to exploration. The problem is easily accessible and fosters creativity and perseverance, thereby…

A primary goal of science and engineering (S&E) education is to produce good problem solvers, but how to best teach and measure the quality of problem solving remains unclear. The process is complex, multifaceted, and not fully characterized. Here, we present a detailed characterization of the S&E problem-solving process as a set of…

This research proposes a didactic strategy to enrich the assimilation processes of the change of variable theorem in solving the definite integral. The theoretical foundations that support it are based on the contributions of social constructivism, problem solving, and treatment of theorems. The practical validation of the strategy is carried out…

Substantial research in teaching and learning has supported the use of active learning strategies in the classroom to improve student learning of fundamental physics concepts and problem-solving skills. The use of worksheets in class has become a widespread successful practice. In this paper, we analyzed numerous completed student worksheets to…

The use of approximations in solving problems in sciences can be vital for students. Order of magnitude estimation also helps with physical understanding of the quantities involved in a calculation. For example, in the first exam in a first-year class in chemistry the student must find the mass in grams of an atom; a couple of students will…

Computing has become essential in modern-day problem-solving, making computational literacy necessary for practicing scientists and engineers. However, K-12 science education has not reflected this computational shift. Integrating computational thinking (CT) into core science courses is an avenue that can build computational literacies in all…

This study aims to examine the effect of the P4C curriculum on 5-6-year-old children's critical thinking through philosophical inquiry and their problem-solving skills. The study group included a total of 40 children learning in kindergartens at an elementary school in Çanakkale, Turkey. The study used a quasi-experimental model with the…

This paper presents an alternative approach of teaching systems of two linear equations to the students in Tanzanian ordinary secondary schools. I conducted a desk-based research on methods that have been used by in-service mathematics teachers for teaching systems of two linear equations in ordinary secondary schools. It was found that five…

Preschool environments offer an abundance of opportunities for exploring the physical world where children can learn "engineering concepts" and "principles" (theories or laws). Yet how teachers design motivating conditions for engineering thinking has not been fully investigated. The study reported in this paper examined how…

Argumentation is central to science learning. Students in every domain of science should have the opportunity to develop the ability to think and act in ways associated with argumentation. When engaged in argumentation, students learn how to puzzle through problems, to see multiple ways of finding solutions, to gather and evaluate evidence on…

Representations are used throughout school mathematics for students to both think through a problem and communicate their ideas. Students also often come to mathematics class with a repertoire of representations. This article presents the ideas of different and multiple representations with conceptual connections as their underlying distinguishing…