Most first- and fourth-year medical students in one school were unable to solve a written problem case, suggesting that medical education has failed to teach the skills of formulating overall hypotheses and subhypotheses before choosing treatment options. (Author/MSE)

Proposes a calculus curriculum combining formative knowledge, mathematical foundations, and instrumental knowledge in mathematics. Discusses each of these components, the organization of a core calculus course, and the use of problem solving in calculus instruction. (10 references) (MKR)

Describes a mapping procedure which can be used to visually display the strategies used in problem solving. Applies the procedure to solutions of the Three Hungry Men problem. (25 references) (Author/MKR)

Ten vignettes depicting either major or minor hypothetical problem situations were presented to 25 young adults with intellectual disability and 14 university students. Participants with intellectual disability tended to make fewer vigilant responses and more defensive avoidance or hypervigilant responses, compared to the university students.…

Administration of the Test of Interpersonal Problem Solving to 46 boys (grades 3-4) with learning disabilities (LD) and 46 boys without LD found that LD students had lower scores on Problem Formulation, Consequential Thinking, and Total Problem Solving Ability. No group differences were noted on two measures of creativity. (Author/JDD)

Presents a problem involving the double-slit interference pattern that relates to the real-world situation of guiding an aircraft to a safe landing. (JRH)

Using sequential chains of regular n-gons in a row with one side touching, as for example, one triangle, two triangles, three triangles, and so on, students graph the length of the perimeter versus the number of n-gons and determine the functional relationship for different values of n. (MKR)

Two experiments involving 163 children were conducted to investigate the circumstances under which an abstract statement promotes analogical problem solving in children. External instantiation (providing concrete examples with the statement) and internal instantiation (encouraging learners to generate concrete examples) were equally effective in…

Two studies explored the relation of task understanding to performance in the Wason selection tasks, in which subjects successfully solve tasks involving either social exchange situations or cheating detection content and perspective. Findings indicate that previous results (Gigerenzer and Hug, 1992) could be attributed to three general properties…

Analyzes difficulties of students experiencing their first contact with heuristic hypotheses. Attempts to interpret these difficulties and suggest remediations. Uses an example from the chemistry of aqueous solutions. (MKR)

Governing boards should ask seven questions when a plan fails: where did the plan break down? who was responsible for the plan? were adequate resources available? were goals clear and specific? was the solution appropriate and adequate? were barriers allowed to derail the plan? were key players involved in planning? (MSE)

A collection of significant quotations related to mathematics education since the founding of NCTM in 1920 indicating policies and philosophies that foreshadowed the current Curriculum and Evaluation Standards and the Professional Teaching Standards. (MSD)

Describes a problem-based learning strategy which helps train principals for an increasingly demanding job. Conceptualizes problem-based learning; provides a rationale for this strategy; and uses a real example from a course in problem-based learning taught at the University of Georgia. (RS)

Discussion of indexing as a problem-solving activity focuses on an experiment that applied theories and methods from cognitive psychology to study interindexer consistency. Eight indexers (four novice and four experts) used two thesauri to index the same four documents. Three kinds of verbal reports were used to assess cognitive processes. (LRW)

"VICA Skills USA Championships" (Bamford) describes the competitions and events of the 1995 National Vocational Industrial Clubs of America Leadership and Skills Conference. "Student Robotics Contest" (Vandenberg) describes an annual competition that invites students to demonstrate their creativity and knowledge of robotics.…