Describes an exercise designed to demonstrate the effects of personality on problem formation and problem solving. Participants are provided a supportive environment in which to discover for themselves their personality/problem solving style and compare it with that of others. (LLS)

The text of an address by George Polya that discusses teaching and problem solving strategies in mathematics is given. (PK)

An investigation of the effect of the direction of search on the problem-solving performance of junior high school algebra students reveals a relationship between the number of correct responses and solution time to the number of possible "blind alleys" and memory load. (Editor/LH)

An inventor, who is also a patent lawyer, has developed a step-by-step process to teach students to invent solutions to problems. (MLF)

Solving scheduling problems related to declining enrollments. (LD)

Assertiveness training models show shortcomings in those situations where assertiveness results in stalemates or conflicts, or both. Deadlocks may occur when antagonists demonstrate appropriate assertive behavior. Conflict management using problem-solving skills allows individuals to learn appropriate methods of dealing with conflictual or…

A model suggesting that dissatisfaction unfolds into a hierarchical arrangement is presented. The hierarchy begins with unease/disgust and proceeds upward with conscious awareness/articulation, active solution/action orientation, frustration/concern, and concludes with despair/fear/depression. (JC)

The steps involved in creative problem solving (CPS) are described, and suggestions are made for incorporating CPS into instruction for gifted and talented students. (CL)

Students use tables of anthropometric data, their own measurements, underlying principles of physics, and math to solve a problem. The problem is to determine the height of a wall mirror, and where to mount it, so that 90% of the clientele can view their entire length without stretching or bending. (Author)

Thinking and doing are both necessary to prepare technological problem solvers. The key is designing learning that will result in creative, functional, and open-ended technological thinkers. (JOW)

An interpretivist qualitative study used the life-history method to analyze foundations of experiential learning in agricultural education. Four tenets--learning through real-life contents (Dewey), learning by doing (Knapp), learning through projects (Stimson), and learning through solving problems (Lancelot)--were conceptually aligned with the…

Reports on the responses obtained when the same mathematical modeling problem was presented to approximately 300 students with similar backgrounds and mathematical experiences. Findings indicate a variety of approaches and a tendency to consistently underestimate the solution to the problem. (JRH)

Introduces the concept of environmental problem solving and examines documents submitted by 139 applicants to determine their qualifications for the position of research assistant. Findings indicate that applicants who showed higher ratings for environmental problem solving differed significantly in their biographical data and qualifications. The…

In three experiments, differences in EEG alpha activity between 30 gifted and 30 average individuals were studied. Results support the hypothesis that higher alpha power during information processing displayed by gifted individuals may derive from the nonuse of many brain areas not required for the problem at hand. (SLD)