Students who have particular difficulty in mathematics are a growing concern for educators. Graphic organizers have been shown to improve reading comprehension and may be applied to upper level secondary mathematics content. In two systematic replications, one randomly assigned group was taught to solve systems of linear equations through direct…

This article illustrates how problem solving can be enhanced through careful planning and problem presentation. Often, students shut down or are turned off when presented with a problem to solve. The author describes how to motivate students to embrace a problem to be solved and provides helpful prompts to further the problem-solving process.…

This paper aims, first, to describe the fundamental characteristics and workings of the AgentGeom artificial tutorial system, which is designed to help students develop knowledge and skills related to problem solving, mathematical proof in geometry, and the use of mathematical language. Following this, we indicate the manner in which a secondary…

This paper investigates the effects that different patterns of similarity among group members have on a group's performance on a problem-solving task. I discuss and test hypotheses on the effects of similarity on group performance derived from two literatures: balance theory and research on homophily. In an experiment I found that the relative…

Criticism of the public schools has been unrelenting since "A Nation at Risk" was published in 1983. From that pivotal moment to the present the business community has played a crucial role in setting the parameters of the critique of the schools and shaping the reform agendas that have been proposed and implemented. However, this author has found…

The study reported in this article examines primary teachers' understandings of thinking skills within the curriculum. All respondents were from primary schools within a local authority in central Scotland, and in total thirty-six schools were represented. Practitioners' perceptions were explored by analysing their quantitative responses to…

Many students in U.S. schools have trouble understanding fractions and Algebra II, the one difficultly occurring at the end of elementary school, the other in high school. One reason is that schools generally focus on one aspect of mathematics--calculation--and often fail to address the second aspect--interpretation. Also responsible is the…

This article describes a mathematics lesson taught by a 5th grade teacher who engages her class in an in-depth examination of one student's incorrect solution to a problem. Because the teacher consistently asks her students to devise alternative calculation strategies and explain how those strategies work, the students have come to expect that…

The purpose of this study was to examine how early childhood pre-service teachers developed professionally through reflective journals. The study focused on the quality of reflection and the effects of reflection on pre-service teachers' professional development. Thirty-two students, majoring in early childhood education, were participated in this…

Cognitive therapy as espoused by A. T. Beck (A. T. Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) is increasingly used as a therapeutic modality and applied to a variety of cultural groups throughout the world. However, the majority of the literature on empirical and clinical practice has been focused on the use of cognitive therapy for Western cultures. In…

Although persistent anger is not represented in "DSM-IV" as a psychiatric disorder, it is nevertheless a significant clinical problem. Based on our experience with both research and clinic patients from a diverse urban population, and drawing on methods utilized by others, we have refined and elaborated several treatment strategies that appear…

We used global ratings to compare the family (parent[s]-child) interactions of 51 clinic-referred children with ADHD and 32 non problem children. Children and parent(s) were videotaped while engaging in problem solving and game playing activities. Independent coders, blind to children's diagnostic status, rated the interactions using measures…

Age-related changes in the use of verbal processes for the efficient switching between tasks were investigated in 5-year-old children (N = 32, M age = 5.9 years) and 9-year-old children (N = 32, M age = 9.4 years). Task switching was assessed by means of a cued switching paradigm to examine two switching components: (a) to maintain and select and…

Effective teaching should focus on representational change, which is fundamental to learning and education, rather than conceptual change, which involves transformation of theories in science rather than the gradual building of knowledge that occurs in students. This article addresses the question about how to develop more efficient strategies for…

We analyze probability content within middle grades (6, 7, and 8) mathematics textbooks from a historical perspective. Two series, one popular and the other alternative, from four recent eras of mathematics education (New Math, Back to Basics, Problem Solving, and Standards) were analyzed using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (Stein, Smith,…