Two groups of 28 students each alternated as experimental and control groups in spelling and punctuation projects. Experimental groups used goal setting and self-evaluation to monitor learning, supported by class discussions. Results showed the intervention raised spelling scores 60-80%, punctuation scores 70-75%. Progress was achieved only when…

Developed a heuristic strategy (SOLVED) to explain the processes involved in understanding and solving mathematical word problems (problem translation, problem interpretation, solution planning, solution execution, and solution monitoring) among upper elementary students. Results indicated that SOLVED was more effective in aiding both short-term…

This study explored 5- to 17-year-olds' use, self report, and awareness of verbal problem-solving strategies and strategy effectiveness. Findings indicated that children's verbal strategies moved from overt, to partially covert, to fully covert forms with age. Self-reports of strategy use were accurate yet incomplete. Strategy awareness was low…

Performance improvement practitioners can be stymied to solve clients' problems. Clients may fail to recognize problems, would rather address symptoms than root causes and practitioners unable to convince clients to institute a meaningful solution. Practitioner can use internally developed data to build a case for action, create a clear vision of…

Discusses high-involvement work teams, in which groups of workers participate in improving their work activities; describes how a typical work team progresses through a project; and introduces a systems model of interrelated steps through which teams may progress to solve problems. (LRW)

Discusses implications for emergent literacy of a study of children two to three years old that examined how age and differing mnemonic cues are related to problem-solving strategies. The study found a transitional stage between older children's symbolic problem solving and younger children's reliance on trial and error. Suggests ways to…

Describes a research program that provides insight into the nature of phylogenetic problems and problem-solving methods and how these might be applied to teaching evolution. Contains a new description of the nature of phylogenetic problems and factors contributing to their difficulty. (AIM)

A study of four men with paraplegia admitted to a rehabilitation ward investigated the relationship between levels of coping, self-efficacy, and improvement in rehabilitation performance. The subjects using more coping strategies had more rehabilitation improvement after the first month and those using problem-oriented coping strategies showed…

Presents activities that explore step-cut dissections of whole rectangles. Provides students with the opportunity to discover patterns, which allows them to solve more and more complex problems that offer a context within which students can think about and use different mathematical concepts. (JRH)

Argues for broadening of the scope of discussions about sustainable resource management to include pressing but often overlooked "mundane" problems. Discusses bias against the mundane, cookstoves for the poor, Grameen (a bank in Bangladesh) banking, and five key fallacies regarding mundane science. (JRH)

Identifies the more representative problem-solving models in environmental education. Suggests the addition of a strategy for defining a problem situation using Soft Systems Methodology to environmental education activities explicitly designed for the development of critical thinking. Contains 45 references. (JRH)

Investigates the effect of explicit problem-solving instruction on high school students' (N=145) conceptual understanding of physics. Findings indicate that the explicit strategy improved the quality and completeness of students' physics representations more than the textbook strategy. No difference was found between the strategies on match of…

Traditional conceptions of problem solving in education are critiqued, and a new framework is proposed to conceptualize open- ended problem solving in ill-structured domains. How innovative curriculum design is informed by this conceptualization is described, and research findings from studies in grades 4 through 12 are presented. (SLD)

Examines a taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties. A questionnaire was administered to 563 young adults at the beginning of their career decision-making process. The relations among the 10 scales, which represent 10 theoretical categories of difficulties, and those among the items within 2 selected categories, were similar in the 2…

College students (N=135) were presented with novel, ill-defined problems and asked to select concepts they thought would help solve the problems. The use of concepts organized around long-term goals was positively related to indices of solution quality and originality. (DB)