Examine the problems of defining English education and of training English teachers and suggests the need for a "reflective teacher," trained to approach theory and teaching itself through problems. (JL)

Discusses techniques that child care workers can utilize to foster the development of coping skills in young children. Emphasizes the difference between psychological immunity to stress based on problem-solving abilities and pseudo-immunity created by overprotectiveness. Holds that challenges build children's competence and self-esteem.…

Describes the modeling approach as used in North Carolina State University's tutoring program. Reviews the modeling process, which focuses on teaching the process of problem solving through example. Discusses tutor training and the content of tutorial sessions. Outlines student benefits. (AYC)

A study of Chicago (Illinois) principals revealed many ways principals practiced "creative insubordination"--avoiding following instructions but still getting things done. Among the dodges are deliberately missing deadlines, following orders literally, ignoring channels to procure teachers or materials, and using community members to…

Instead of the win/lose or compromise methods of resolving conflict between teachers and school districts, the author advocates a problem-solving approach in which both sides seek to view the conflict from the opposite perspective and to discuss alternative solutions. (WD)

Describes a study which investigated the feasibility of different controlling structures in programing languages (e.g., GOTO vs IF THEN ELSE) in the process of learning to construct algorithms and the effects of cognitive style on the learning process. A 10-item bibliography is included. (CHC)

Measures of latency and accuracy and self-ratings of performance on Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) were found to significantly differentiate between college students self-rated as high- and low-success problem solvers. Results suggest a need for training low-success, impulsive problem solvers in more effective problem-solving…

A traditional question is whether or not computers shall ever think like humans. This question is redirected to a discussion of whether computers shall ever be truly creative. Creativity is defined and a program is described that is designed to complete creatively a series problem in mathematics. (MP)

Eight-year-old children were trained on length or weight relationships between adjacent members of a five-item series of colored objects. Visual feedback was provided. Results indicated more salient visual feedback reduced learning effort for length but not for weight comparisons. Encoding differences found in another experiment were used to…

The development of symbolic computer algebra designed to manipulate abstract mathematical expressions is discussed. The ability of this software to mimic the standard patterns of human problem solving represents a major advance toward "true" artificial intelligence. (MP)

A review of all available experimental data indicates that the task-evoked pupillary response, a physiological measure of processing "mental effort," accurately reflects within-task, between-task and between-individual variations in processing demands. (Author/RH)

Answers to problems (in Applesoft Basic) in the Second Annual Computer Problem Solving Contest are presented, corresponding to elementary/junior/senior levels. Problems require good control of programing language, ability to solve problems, and implementing a problem-solving strategy within a computer language. Problem types include words,…

When subgoal location was appropriate to the serial pattern, subjects were likely to use a strategy resulting in enhanced rule induction and transfer with increased subgoal density. When subgoal location was not appropriate, subjects tended to use a strategy resulting in considerably reduced role induction and transfer. (Author/PN)

The operation of means-ends analysis (MEA) involves attempts at reducing differences between problem states and the goal state. It was paradoxically found that the more problem solvers knew of the goal state, the less they learned of the problem structure during the solution process. (PN)

Experiment I establishes that the ability to remember the slope of a line develops between three and four years of age. In Experiment II, 15 children with a mean age of four years and six months who had discriminated both slope and left-right problems under successive presentation were tested on these same discriminations under simultaneous…