This article describes how providing effective and timely feedback gives new life to student assessment. Such feedback enables students to become better problem solvers and assessors of their own work. Providing effective and informative feedback is a large part of the assessment process: a means not an end that exists to improve learning and…

This book is part of the "Windows on Literacy: Language, Literacy & Vocabulary" program and shows students ways to solve problems, including drawing a picture and using a calculator. The suggested grade range is K-3; the guided reading level is N-P; the basal results level is Grade 2-Grade 3; and the Windows on Literacy Stage is Fluent Plus…

This book provides a comprehensive, applied, and field-tested plan for using tactical games in teaching elementary physical education. The tactical games approach is taught by game category. For each game category, the book presents three progressive levels of units containing up to 30 detailed lesson plans. Each of the 90 lessons is designed to…

Nonroutine problem-solving, too, involves elements of routine. Often, elementary routines such as solving for a variable are not carried out without error. In this paper, we use new findings from neuroscientific research to explain why even excellent students make mistakes in elementary routines. [For complete proceedings, see ED489597.]

This paper presents an analysis of high school and starting college students' work with algebraic expressions and problems involving parameters. We suggest that parameters should be considered as general numbers that are used to make second order generalizations. The Three Uses of Variable model (3UV model) is then used as theoretical framework to…

In this paper I will present the rationale that motivates the study in an ongoing three-year project following students in school years 8 to 10. The aim is to develop the students' competence with use of ICT tools in mathematics in such a way that they will be able to choose tools for themselves, not rely just on the teacher telling them what to…

High stakes tests are increasingly used to monitor systemic improvements in mathematics and teachers are expected to rely on the results of such tests to adapt their instructional practices. We examine the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) over a period of three years to examine to what extent its results can be used to guide…

This paper consists of a learning unit for college algebra in which the problem presents three different payment plans for a tuition plan to pay for college expenses. The details of each payment plan are presented, each followed by several exercises so that comparisons of the results can be made across payment plans. (MM)

This paper presents an overview of research on physics problem solving using verbal protocols. It asserts that the understanding of physics problem solving strategies enables researchers to write computer programs, which can automatically solve physics problems without the users having to be experts in physics. This, in turn, can generate more…

Parents, lawmakers, supervisors, and unions are among the many constituencies that demand influence, if not control, of the educational process. How does the school administrator balance all the needs of the various groups and still remain true to the ultimate, though most powerless constituency-the students? Through case studies and anecdotes…

Research into problem solving and higher-order thinking skills in school mathematics was being addressed in Japan as early as the 1970's. Although this book clearly addresses the important aspects of problem solving, it also has implications for improving assessment in problem solving. The first phase of Japanese research on the open-ended…

This paper describes an aspect of an evaluation for a new mathematics teaching technique in primary school. This evaluation is inspired by the theory and conceptions which are at the base of the innovation. By offering an analogy between the situation of the teacher who must adapt to new ways and that of the pupil facing a "problem situation," it…

This document contains the proceedings of the Teton Summit Conference for Program Evaluation in Nonformal Environmental Education. The Summit was co-hosted by the Teton Science School (TSS) and The Ohio State University with the goal of improving efficacy of evaluation in environmental education. Contents include: (1) What Is Evaluation? (2) For…

Classroom management literature emphasizes non-punitive methods of managing a classroom of students, suggesting that democratic class meetings are an important or central element to developing student character. Class meetings are presented as a method of teaching children problem solving skills, conflict resolution, and a means for encouraging…

Problem solving has been studied extensively for tens of years and is based on a set of generic steps. A content theme is needed for these generic skills to be used and theme-based learning was chosen to be the medium for the project Key Learning Community (KLC). This paper describes the implementation of the problem solving approach into the KLC…