This article offers an introduction to the central concepts and principles of the Systemic-Structural Theory of Activity (SSTA), an activity-theoretical approach specifically tailored to the analysis and design of human work. In activity theory, cognition is understood both as a process and as a structured system of actions. Building on the…

This paper reports on an online guided reading program designed and developed by the authors, and implemented in class conditions. The program allows students to read a short story from a computer screen and obtain immediate support, in the form of suggested problem-solving strategies designed to help them overcome the lexical and grammatical…

The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium's (INTASC's) (1992) standards for beginning teachers and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' core propositions highlight the importance of collaborative problem solving for teachers. They suggest teachers work together with other school professionals, parents, and…

In leadership education, developing a tolerance for ambiguity is a key element in preparing students for success in the fast-paced and often chaotic business world. In this article, the author presents an approach that draws on Boyer's framework for scholarship, incorporates experiential education principles, and adopts action research…

The tendency to generalize from specific experiences leading to new, more abstract concepts is a natural aspect of human thought. Generalizations are the end result of an inductive process that begins with the identification of similarities in seemingly disparate situations. It is the existence of such generalizations that makes it possible for us…

Herring in the ocean between Iceland and Norway was one of the largest fish stocks in the world until the fishery crashed in the late 1960s. The catch in 1971 was only 20 thousand metric tons in contrast with the record of 2 million tons in 1966 and the spawning stock declined from 10 million tons to 10 thousand tons in 20 years. After 25 years of…

Empathy has been suggested to facilitate effective collaborative problem solving in children. The current study adapted the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980), a well-validated empathy measure for adults, for use with children aged 8 and 9 years. Four hundred and thirteen school children aged between 7;11 and 9;11 years completed…

We examined the relationship between parents' behaviour and children's use of simple arithmetic strategies while playing a board game in contrast to solving arithmetic problems. In a microgenetic study spanning 3 weeks, 5-year-old children who were just beginning kindergarten played a modified game of "Chutes and Ladders" with one of…

This article presents an example of a versatile multi-solution problem that can be used right across the primary years. The basic problem is: "Noah saw 16 legs go past him into the Ark. How many creatures did he see?" Any even number can be used, although, 2 legs allows only one answer and with 16 legs there are already 14 different…

Children's literature can enhance mathematics lessons by providing a meaningful context, demonstrating that mathematics develops from human experiences and contributes an aesthetic dimension to learning mathematics. Written as a series of real life inspired snapshots of mathematical thinking, "Counting on Frank" (Rod Clement, 1990)…

Interactive Simulated Patient (ISP) is a computer-based simulation tool designed to provide medical students with the opportunity to practice their clinical problem solving skills. The ISP system allows students to perform most clinical decision-making procedures in a simulated environment, including history taking in natural language, many…

The compensatory-encoding theory (C-ET) of reading specifies how the efficiency of performance subcomponents affects comprehension under diverse task conditions. It maintains that readers can overcome weak skills through compensatory processes. To test whether C-ET captures more general principles underlying scholastic performance, the authors…

The social goals and social problem-solving of children who varied in social adjustment were examined in the context of hypothetical ambiguous provocation situations in which provocateurs' emotion displays were systematically manipulated. Children rated the importance of six different social goals and explained how they would solve the problems.…

Research has shown that female students cannot profit as much as male students can from cooperative learning in physics, especially in mixed-gender dyads. This study has explored the influence of partner gender on female students' learning achievement, interaction and the problem-solving process during cooperative learning. In Shanghai, a total of…

"Sea turtles" refer to scholars who have returned from abroad, and especially from the Western countries while "land turtles" refer to scholars who have been "stuck" in China where they have obtained an education and engaged in theoretical research or practical explorations. In this article, the author compares the…