Outstanding teachers Meet and discuss instructional problems excluding other teaching matters. Article presents teacher opinions of their progress as well as seminar goals. (RK)

Discusses some central ideas emerging from a systematic approach to teaching scientific problem-solving skills. Areas considered include: insights derived from naturalistic studies; effective problem-solving methods; problem-solving procedures; characteristics of the knowledge base (focusing on functional conceptual building blocks, knowledge…

Teachers should consider using strategy games to introduce students to problem solving in an enjoyable way. Advantages of games, criteria, games and variations to use, and classroom organization are each discussed. (MNS)

Visualization is an effective technique for determining exactly what students must do to solve a mathematics problem. Pictures and charts can be used to help children understand which mathematics facts are present and which are missing--an important step toward problem solving. (PP)

Discusses areas related to teaching science-related, value-laden, real-world problems. These include potential/limitations of science and scientific method, how science-based information fits in with other kinds of information, how preconceptions about problems/issues affect scientific problem solving, and utilization of different educational…

The easy availability and popularity of newspapers enhance their use in the classroom. The material presented is grouped under: (1) "Comparative Shopping and Estimation Activities"; (2) "Buying and Furnishing Houses"; and (3) "Graphing, Probability, and Statistics." Teachers are encouraged to consider such applications in involving pupils in…

The pendulum and balance beam were studied. The principal question addressed was whether students could substantially and quickly benefit from a teaching strategy explicitly designed to promote transfer. About half the subjects could acquire in brief time a procedure for transferring knowledge to novel tasks. (MP)

It is suggested that there are three levels of difficulty posing barriers to successful problem-solving performance: (1) entry into the problem; (2) basic skills; and (3) general cognitive skills. The levels are described in some detail and suggestions for instructional methods are given. (MP)

Examined problem-solving strategies of 30 high school students as they solved genetics problems. Proposes a new sequence of teaching genetics based on results: meiosis, sex chromosomes, sex determination, sex-linked traits, monohybrid and dihybrid crosses (humans), codominance (humans), and Mendel's pea experiments. (JN)

A one-to-one teaching session with a student is described and analyzed in an attempt to communicate how student attempts at discovery in mathematics can be thwarted by teachers who do not allow room for creativity. (MP)

This article presents the Practical Action Teaching Model and discusses its four phases: identification of the practical problem, practical reasoning or deliberation, action, and reflection. It incorporates intrinsically motivating, practical, value-based student problems that call for critical and creative thinking and offer opportunities for…

Describes a problem-solving instructional unit which utilizes a simulation gaming method to help students in an introductory college-level geography course understand rural community development in a developing nation. (DB)

Presented is a method for finding two triangles that have five pairs of congruent parts, yet fail to be congruent. The solution is thought to involve some creative insights that should challenge both the teacher and students to recall and analyze all the congruence axioms and theorems. (MP)