A study involving 117 children with and without mental retardation in grades 1 through 5 found children with mental retardation had difficulty recognizing benign intention social cues that accompanied a negative event, had difficulty varying their social strategies to fit the social conflict, and often suggested appealing to authority. (Contains…

Shows that negotiation provides an effective model for teaching public relations professionalism. Describes how two professors in a public relations class used a negotiation model to teach students to simultaneously balance the two components of professionalism: ethical considerations and pragmatic, problem-solving measures. (SR)

Only by providing schools with a choice of valid, well-supported models of schooling can we make the change process manageable for school personnel and satisfy the conflicting demands of the public. Education professionals have the expertise to sort through the many puzzle pieces of school reform and assemble coherent, detailed schooling images…

Cognitive technical skills assessments, the Group Embedded Figures Test, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking assessment, and a problem-solving inventory were completed by 15 maintenance technicians. Near-transfer problem-solving skills were predicted by cognitive ability, years of experience, and critical thinking. Field dependence/independence and…

Presents an activity to assess primary students' understanding of ordinal numbers and ability to apply those skills to new problem-solving situations. The activity helps teachers view students' reasoning strategies. Students have to figure out the total number of dots on a strip of paper when they can only see a few but are given a clue that a…

The generality of academic self-efficacy judgments was examined among 588 high school students who rated their confidence for problem solving. A first-order model with a separate self-efficacy factor for each school subject displayed the best fit, so that verbal and quantitative self-efficacy were more meaningful than general academic…

This essay argues that reliability should be reconceptualized in a way that reflects the importance of the theoretical expectations of the test specialist and the learning and problem solving of the test takers. It is time to characterize clearly the substantive theoretical framework supporting reliability studies and the technical evaluation of…

Describes a course in the first-year college composition sequence (with substantial research and argumentation components) that is organized around a career focus on social services practice. Describes how the students learn about connections between writing, thinking, problem solving, composition class, and their chosen profession. (SR)

Discusses the use of techniques from language experiences in assisting with the learning and assessment of mathematics. Provides a mathematics activity on fractions employing story writing activities. (ASK)

Explores the mathematical problem posing and problem solving of U.S. (N=181) and Chinese (N=223) sixth-grade students. Reports that while Chinese students outperform U.S. students on computational tasks, there are many similarities and differences between U.S. and Chinese students in performing relatively novel tasks. Discusses the direct link…

Reports on two studies in which college students rated the degree to which clients were responsible for causing and solving their problems. Study 1 revealed that men held male clients responsible for problems. Study 2 demonstrated that clients with schizophrenia were evaluated differently than those with problems of anxiety and personal…

Presents problems from the Mathematics in Context (MiC) project with a central theme concerning the construction of a variety of formulas by students. (AIM)

Reviews studies on the cognitive mechanisms underlying creative thought and proposes a general model. This model holds that creative thought involves interactions among a number of distinct cognitive components. Some of the implications of this model for the design of effective educational programs are discussed. (Author/CR)

Examined relationships among theory of mind construct of intention and false belief, problem-solving ability, metacognitive regulation, and strategy use in 39 preschoolers. Found significant correlations between strategy use and theory of mind, and metacognitive regulation and theory of mind. A moderate, but nonsignificant, correlation was found…

Presents a rear-end car accident scenario to teach about forces and kinetic energy in a problem-based learning format. Includes four parts: (1) "A Bad Day for Sandy Dayton"; (2) "The Emergency Room"; (3) "The Facts of the Case"; and (4) "Judgement Day". Discusses the major issues of the questions, introduces scientific concepts, and initiates…