Presents four articles for elementary teachers. The first shows how teachers can guide students to write stories from personal experiences. The second offers suggestions for mathematics instruction, focusing on primary level geometry and intermediate level problem solving. The third focuses on folk-art barn paintings. The fourth uses pumpkins to…

Outlines a series of simulation activities using historical incidents to illustrate the importance of the decision-making process. Students act out historical roles as the leaders of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia in the days leading up to World War I and as the Tsar of Russia after the Bloody Sunday massacre. (MJP)

Discusses the development of three different curricula for teaching conflict resolution to students in the Israeli public schools. Explains curriculum goals, presents eight examples of available teaching technologies appropriate for students in different age groups (e.g., peer mediation and second-language learning), and discusses creative…

Eastern Michigan University's Collaborative School Improvement Program initiates school-level improvement by training teachers and administrators in collaborative decision making. A survey of professional staff in 14 participating schools revealed the importance of focusing on student learning outcomes, addressing attainment obstacles, and…

Discusses why art activities are an important part of a child's development. Cites reasons open-ended art activities have a place in early childhood programs, including: children love them; art materials provide hands-on, sensory experiences; art provides an outlet for the innate creativity of children, allowing them opportunities for unique…

In the Community of Explorers Project (CoE) high school teachers and students engaged in scientific problem solving using advanced network technology and innovative pedagogy. Analysis of e-mail indicated the important effects of organizational and occupational cultures on the application of technology in classrooms and on the development of a…

Discusses how actual or planned travel experiences can form the basis for constructing realistic, challenging, and interesting problem-solving tasks for classroom use. Provides examples of how teachers and students can create travel problems for use in the classroom. The travel-problem concept is adaptable to any elementary, secondary, or…

Conducts a scenario-based usability test with 10 data analysts using visual querying (visually analyzing data with interactive graphics). Details a range of difficulties found in visual selection that, at times, gave rise to inaccurate selections, invalid conclusions, and misguided decisions. Argues that support for visual selection must be built…

Reports on a study that examined the comfort level of eighth-grade teachers who used nontraditional teaching strategies in sexuality education classes. Surveys indicated that most were comfortable teaching sexuality education, though a quarter to a third never or rarely used nontraditional strategies such as role playing, small group discussion,…

Introduces the constructivist theory of mathematical learning, and illustrates its application in a curriculum focusing on fundamental concepts. How knowledge is constructed, how concepts mature, and what it means to learn and to know mathematics are presented. Pedagogical implications of adopting a constructivist perspective on knowledge and…

Examines the role of the tutor in the problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum at the University of Queensland (Australia) dental school, discussing changes in this role across the four years in which PBL is used. Explores different varieties of PBL, as well as group learning, tutor-free groups, the reflective role of tutors, and desirable tutor…

A study compared the performance on a national licensing examination of University of Southern California dental students in problem-based learning (PBL) versus those in conventional educational tracks. PBL track students scored significantly higher in all four discipline-based portions of the exam and also in the aggregate, and scored well in…

Investigated differences in reflections of preservice teachers' teaching effectiveness during a field experience, Kids' College, which provided a supportive forum in which preservice teachers, who had full ownership of their teaching, could implement innovations in a multi-age environment. Data from reflective journals, interviews, and…

Compared the effect of problem solving-based computer- assisted instruction (PSCAI) and lecture-Internet-discussion instruction (LIDI) on Taiwanese high school students' science achievement and attitudes. Pretest-posttest investigation indicated that PSCAI students scored higher, but not significantly higher, than LIDI students. There were…

Examination of gender differences in self-efficacy, attitudes toward mathematics, and achievement of 48 gifted 7th and 8th grade students after participating in a 2-week course on probability and statistics found no differences in achievement or self-efficacy between cooperative learning mixed gender or single gender groups. Differences in…