In reviewing the six articles within this "Instructional Science" special issue, we are reminded of Schoenfeld's ("Educ Res" 45(2):105-111, 2016) review of American Educational Research Association president-authored papers for the centennial celebration of AERA. There, he succinctly unveiled the content focus of AERA research…

Many people consider problem solving as a complex process in which variables such as "x," "y" are used. Problems may not be solved by only using "variable." Problem solving can be rationalized and made easier using practical strategies. When especially the development of children at younger ages is considered, it is…

The purpose of this article is to report on a newly funded research project in which we will investigate how secondary students apply mathematical modelling to effectively address real world situations. Through this study, we will identify factors, mathematical, cognitive, social and environmental that "enable" year 10/11 students to…

With the inclusion of engineering disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) position engineering as a new priority in K-12 science classrooms. This paper reports findings from the implementation of SLIDER, a problem-based learning 8th grade physical science curriculum that integrates engineering and physical…

This study explores the notion of deep learning as constructed in the discourses of practicing mathematics teachers. Analyses of data from written texts show that the teachers tend to conceptualise deep learning in terms of two broad categories: students' deep learning and the work of teaching for deep learning. In both categories, students'…

Ordinary Differential Equations I, is one of the core courses for science and engineering majors. Practical problem solving in science and engineering programs require proficiency in mathematics. Improving student performance and retention in mathematics classes requires inventive approaches. At the University of Central Florida (UCF) the…

The aim of this study is to find out whether there is a connection between teacher's request and guidance for written explanation and third-graders' achievements in solving a non-standard problem. Pupils' task was to solve a simplified arithmagon and to explain their solution. The lessons of seven teachers were recorded and their actions were…

Help seeking is regarded as an important learning strategy that reflects students' metacognitive and domainspecific skills and knowledge. This study developed a proactive online discussion forum that strengthens social networks in an online discussion forum to facilitate help seeking for problem solving. This forum allowed students to proactively…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of "Understand and Solve!" Strategy on change problems including change of a one-step addition and subtraction of children with mild intellectual disabilities and whether they maintained their achievements 3, 5, and 8 weeks after the intervention. Moreover, the effects of the…

Assessment is fundamental to school psychology, but its purpose has shifted from making predictions about children to improving outcomes for children. This commentary on the special issue focuses on screening and progress-monitoring decisions that can be used to solve student problems. We outline several psychometric and practical issues that…

This study examined the effects of two training methods (interest-based and traditional) used to improve math word problem performance of middle school students with and without learning disabilities, as measured by the Herr Scale of Mathematical Word Problem Solving Situations. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups:…

Background: The Secret Agent Society (SAS) Program, an intervention to enhance social-emotional skills, was provided by schools for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The program was assessed to determine if it improved social skills at school and home, and whether improvements were maintained. Methods: Eighty-four students…

Steven Drouin writes that in his first years of teaching, he viewed the purpose of school to be what his childhood teachers and college instructors had instilled in him. School was simply a place for learning academic content and for developing skills needed later in life. Then he began to realize that any conception of schooling that required…

Spearman concluded that performance on any test of mental ability could be explained by several cognitive factors organized hierarchically as one general factor and several subordinate specific factors (Spearman, 1904, 1927). The general factor accounted for the significant amount of inter-correlation between all ability tests for any one…

This study was conducted during the first semester of 2016, from March 21st to June 30th, with 104 students, in eight educational centers or "polos," in the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Previously, these mathematics teacher education students had no opportunity to study in higher education in Brazil. They were enrolled in a…