Investigates the effect of the presence of context in physics problems by comparing the performance of physics students (n=8) on two sets of matched problems. Results indicate that the students performed better on the tasks with context. Reports that real-life context plays an important role in the ability to visualize the problem. (JRH)

Discusses results of the first year of a project that used a cooperative team approach with eighth- and ninth-grade science students to solve discrepant event problems (situations whose outcome is inconsistent with what one would expect). (SR)

Discusses planning instruction on the basis of children's thinking. First, individualize instruction by adjusting the value of the numbers used for individual children. Second, base problem presentation on the types of thinking prevalent in the class. Third, conduct some instruction in small groups. Fourth, suggest alternative strategies. Finally,…

Three responses from teachers to a problem originally presented in the January-February 1996 issue are shared. The problem concerns sharing a fraction of a meal's price between six diners. Each response reflects a different approach to the problem and to using the problem with a class of students. (AIM)

Describes a project that helps students integrate biological concepts using both creativity and higher-order problem-solving skills. Involves students playing the roles of junior scientists aboard a starship in orbit around a class M planet and using a description of habitats, seasonal details, and a surface map of prominent geographic features to…

Investigated the ontogenesis of oddity learning. Children and adults were tested on two versions of the oddity task using nonverbal procedures. Results suggested that children use different strategies to solve different versions of the oddity task, and in tasks in which stimuli are presented simultaneously, behavior may be controlled by stimulus…

Presents four card games that can teach arithmetic concepts, reinforce skills, and develop problem-solving techniques. (MKR)

Proposes a problem-solving model of incorporating critical thinking into a basic literacy program. The author, an inmate, provides concrete steps of creating the curriculum by offering a description of two units that she developed. Relates the critical-thinking curriculum to developments in understanding of the reading process. (JOW)

Develops a diagnostic framework that supports teaching and learning in situations that are suitable for students having difficulty in addressing basic problems. Uses data collected from 47 students in a senior mathematics course. Contains 63 references. (Author/ASK)

Presents a method to make precalculus college freshmen accountable to the class for doing at least some of their assigned homework problems by making each student an expert on one or more of the assignments. (ASK)

Indicates the necessity of curriculum frameworks that enable all students to achieve their maximum potential literacy; to create their own knowledge; and to develop in directions unique to their needs, interests, abilities, and perspectives--that is, to become self-actualized. (Contains 65 references.) (Author/YDS)

Applies self-determination theory to investigate the effects of students' course-specific self-regulation and their perceptions of their instructors' autonomous support on adjustment and academic performance in a college-level organic chemistry course. Hypothesizes that students taking the organic chemistry course for relatively autonomous reasons…

Hypothesizes that the construction of visual models, resolution of these visual models with numeric models and, in many cases, rejection of commitments such as the belief in one true velocity, are necessary for students to form integrated mental models of relative motion events. Studies high school students' relative motion problem solving.…

Calls for more manuscripts on problem-based learning in the biochemical sciences. Includes information on problem-based learning conferences. (SAH)

Focuses on teachers' research in their own classrooms and how teachers make sense of what they see and hear during open-ended technology construction projects. Traces aspects of learning trajectory as a teacher researcher in a year 6 classroom and aspects of improved classroom outcomes. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/YDS)