One of Martin Gardner's most famous columns introduced John Conway's game of Life. The inverse problem, finding a previous generation in the Game of Life given some extra constraints, was introduced a few years ago and is referred to as Retrolife. In this paper we present a puzzle played on a chessboard that is isomorphic to a variation of…

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010) emphasize the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) that describe processes and proficiencies included in the NCTM Process Standards (NCTM 2000) and in the Strands for Mathematical Proficiency (NRC 2001). The development of these mathematical practices should happen in…

Boggle logic puzzles are based on the popular word game Boggle played backwards. Given a list of words, the problem is to recreate the board. We explore these puzzles on a 3 x 3 board and find the minimum number of three-letter words needed to create a puzzle with a unique solution. We conclude with a series of open questions.

Various forms of digital devices have established themselves as resources within constructions of professional practices in early childhood education. This article is centred on the question of how we might rethink an example of digital practice based on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and a rhizomatic understanding of digital practice…

We present a strategy for the acquisition and assessment of autonomous learning conducted as part of the Graphic Expression in Engineering (GE) degree course during the first quarter at the Escola Universitària d'Enginyeria Tècnica Industrial de Barcelona (EUETIB). The strategy employed is the puzzle technique in the classroom and multiple-choice…

Computerized training systems offer a promising new direction in the training of executive functions, in part because they can easily be designed to offer feedback to learners. Yet, feedback is a double-edged sword, serving a positive motivational role while at the same time carrying the risk that learners may become dependent on the feedback they…

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of language teaching being more and more communication oriented. The traditional classroom teaching is facing a big challenge and is gradually being replaced by learner-centered approaches putting learner as individual into the core of learning process. This means learner autonomy gets to be…

The aim of the present article is to describe a puzzle developed for use in teaching cardiac physiology classes. The puzzle presents figures of phases of the cardiac cycle and a table with five columns: phases of cardiac cycle, atrial state, ventricular state, state of atrioventricular valves, and pulmonary and aortic valves. Chips are provided…

During the first 5 years of life, the versatility, breadth, and fidelity with which children imitate change dramatically. Currently, there is no model to explain what underlies such significant changes. To that end, the present study examined whether task-independent but domain-specific--elemental--imitation mechanism explains performance across…

"Instant Insanity II" is a sliding mechanical puzzle whose solution requires the special alignment of 16 colored tiles. We count the number of solutions of the puzzle's classic challenge and show that the more difficult ultimate challenge has, up to row permutation, exactly two solutions, and further show that no…

The links among mothers' compassionate love for their child, autonomic nervous system activity, and parenting behavior during less and more challenging mother-child interactions were examined. Mothers expressed and reported less negative affect when they exhibited autonomic patterns of increased parasympathetic dominance (high parasympathetic…

The evaluation process is complex and extremely important in the teaching/learning process. Evaluations are constantly employed in the classroom to assist students in the learning process and to help teachers improve the teaching process. The use of active methodologies encourages students to participate in the learning process, encourages…

A well-known mathematical puzzle regarding a worm crawling along an elastic rope is considered. The resulting generalizations provide examples for use in a teaching context including applications of series summation, the use of the integrating factor for the solution of differential equations, and the evaluation of definite integrals. A number of…

In this article, the author allows Robert B. Davis to state for himself his own Principles concerning how children learn, and how teachers can best teach them. These principles are put forward in Davis' own words along with detailed documentation. The author goes on compare Davis' words with his practices. A single Davis video (Towers of Hanoi) is…

Similarity is a fundamental concept in the middle grades. In this study, we applied Vergnaud's theory of conceptual fields to answer the following questions: What concepts-in-action and theorems-in-action about similarity surfaced when students worked in a novel task that required them to enlarge a puzzle piece? How did students use geometric…