Offers four steps to broaden students' thinking by questioning the "facts" from cases or problems. Claims the assignment helps students understand the process of dissecting the parts of a problem, researching the alternatives, writing a factual report, and orally presenting recommendations. (MS)

Delineates various conceptions of and arguments about problem solving and proposes a means for dealing with these conflicts. Argues that composition studies should strive to find a common language with which proponents of opposing views can communicate with each other. (MS)

Teachers can help students with learning problems in solving arithmetic word problems by following the principles commonly used in the design of Direct Instruction curricula: teach rules and strategies rather than rote memorization; sequence examples and skills carefully; and introduce and review skills cumulatively. (CB)

Describes the "Educating for Citizenship" program, comprising curriculum materials based on the real-life experiences of 6-to-10-year-olds. Designed to alert youngsters to citizenship rights and responsibilities and to provide opportunities to practice citizenship skills, the program succeeds because it promotes civic participation and democratic…

Elaborates a theory of tension reduction among antagonistic groups that has progressed from a theory growing out of individual psychotherapy to a well-tried model used in a workshop of international leaders focused on a specific crisis situation. (Author/NB)

Examines ethical issues in making policy decisions regarding divorce child custody disputes. Suggests dilemma occurs when legislator must decide between discretionary standard promoting best interest of child and nondiscretionary arbitrary assignment of custody. Advocates normative analysis of various types of dispute-settling processes and…

The usual model of action learning includes within its framework the role and function of the set adviser. This article provides an account, by its members, of an action learning set operating with no set adviser. The development of procedures and processes within the group is reviewed, together with an assessment of outcomes. (Author)

Problem solving and decision making are considered to be keys to successful management. A normative method for problem solving is presented, suggesting that the analysis of the problem be structured along a five-step procedure: problem identification, analysis, decision alternatives, decision making, and decision implementation. Follow-up…

Describes the current status and limitations of expert systems, and explores the possible applications of such systems in education and training. The use of expert systems as tutors, as job aids, and as a vehicle for students to develop their own expert systems on specific topics are discussed. (40 references) (CLB)

The problem-solving approach was used with 68 vocational agriculture high school students, and the subject matter approach with 61 students. Tests of problem-area achievement and retention revealed that the problem-solving approach was neither more nor less effective than the subject-matter approach. (JOW)

This paper is a case study of curriculum development in Nigeria. It describes the principles with which a committee revised and developed a new elementary social studies curriculum. Included is a brief report of a study conducted to examine the effectiveness of the new curriculum. (Author/JDH)

A program designed to teach cognitive strategies through logical problem-solving and developed for elementary learning disabled students is presented. For each problem set, the instructional procedure involves a discovery activity, discussion, conclusion, follow-up activities, and integration. Five samples of the program's problem sets (e.g.,…

Forty toddlers, 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years of age, and 8 adults, searched for stickers that were hidden underneath two discretely different classes of objects embedded in arrays containing several classes. Study results suggest that the children appear to have been attempting to determine which kinds of choices were the wrong ones. (Author/RWB)

A role-playing measure of teenage girls' problem-solving skills--the Problem Inventory for Adolescent Girls (PIAG)--was administered to groups of Caucasian and Black female delinquents and nondelinquents. The PIAG significantly differentiated between adjudicated delinquents and nondelinquents and between subjects reporting high and low levels of…

The method of finite differences is discussed with some applications. The method is described in detail, with illustrative sequences, and several problems are presented. (MNS)