Describes an artificial intelligence system known as SOAR that approximates a theory of human cognition. Discusses cognition as problem solving, working memory, long term memory, autonomy and adaptability, and learning from experience as they relate to artificial intelligence generally and to SOAR specifically. Highlights the status of the…

Answers a student's question about the emission of a positron from a nucleus. Discusses the problem from the aspects of the uncertainty principle, beta decay, the Fermi Theory, and modern physics. (YP)

Reforming Japanese higher education will not be easy. Stagnant budgets, rigid seniority systems, and a conservative bureaucracy that fears losing control all stand in the way of change. A series of changes proposed by the former Prime Minister are discussed. (MLW)

Twenty children, aged six-eight, with normal nonverbal intelligence but language comprehension deficits, were administered tasks of verbal and perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and a problem-solving task of functional analogical reasoning. Compared to controls, subjects were deficient in analogical reasoning. However, when the…

An across-the-curriculum program was developed to teach learning, thinking, and problem-solving skills to bright middle-school underachievers. This article describes the pilot program's theoretical basis, axioms of program development, guidelines for teaching metacognitive strategies, and a framework for strategy implementation. (Author/JDD)

Describes an action research project using Language for Understanding across the Curriculum to help year-seven students in a mathematics problem-solving unit. Strategies included unpacking the question, modeling the writing process, learning journals, glossaries, classroom charts, and the Newman Questioning Technique. Ability to explain…

Describes a process used by the Downtown Alternative School, Toronto, Canada, to resolve conflicts among the students there. Offers the perspectives of the teachers, students, parents, and observers on the effectiveness of the approach. (TB)

A Washington State first-grade teacher and her students created the Learning-Centered Curriculum-Making Project, developing each unit over a two-week period and highlighting language and thinking skills related to various subject disciplines. They used dialog, coaching, modeling, questioning, and reinforcing techniques. Students helped select…

Suggests ways in which mathematical models can be presented and developed in the classroom to promote discussion, analysis, and understanding of issues related to energy consumption. Five problems deal with past trends and future projections of availability of a nonrenewable resource, natural gas. (Contains 13 references.) (MDH)

Focuses on the place of discrete mathematics in the grades 9-12 mathematics curriculum and discusses how the topic of recursion should be taught. Presents several examples of recursion involving LOGO, spreadsheets, sequences, Pascal's triangle, and the Tower of Hanoi to illustrate its teaching. (MDH)

Project questions are real-world problems with multiple solutions, no obvious solution sequence, requiring hands-on data collection, and investigation of topics within and outside mathematics. Discusses evaluation of solution processes, describes a detailed example involving the trajectory of a baseball, and suggests 19 other project questions.…

Responses to interview questions regarding self-determination opportunities, outcomes, and importance were compared across 21 adults with developmental disabilities and 20 advocates. Self-determination skills in the areas of problem solving, assertiveness, decision making, and goal setting were also addressed. Areas of agreement and disagreement…

The time may be ripe for the fields of mathematics education, special education, and cognitive psychology to converge, with their respective focuses on mathematical problem solving, individual differences among students, and analysis of cognitive processes. Four articles on learning disabilities in mathematics are introduced, and a research agenda…

Presents a study involving students (n=46) enrolled in an introductory physics course designed to describe and understand students' experimenting and problem-solving strategies in a constructivist learning environment. Concludes that students should be provided with problem-rich learning environments in which they learn to investigate phenomena of…

Discusses similarities and differences between knowledge acquisition in expert systems and requirement acquisition in others kinds of information systems (particularly decision support systems). Examines role-limiting methods for automated knowledge acquisition and their integration from the problem-solving perspective. Suggests a feasibility…