Deming's principles and TQM problem-solving tools and techniques can be used to solve noninstructional problems such as vandalism, dropouts, and student absenteeism. This case study presents a model for principals to apply to identify root causes, resolve problems, and provide quality outcomes (at reduced cost) in noninstructional areas. (Contains…

Examines the relationship between problem-solving performance and the quality of the organization of students' knowledge. Reports on findings on the extent to which content and connectedness indicators differentiated between groups of high-achieving and low-achieving Year 10 students undertaking geometry tasks. (Contains 29 references.)…

Investigates 6th-grade students' use of equations to describe and represent problem situations prior to formal instruction in algebra. Describes students' preinstructional uses of equations to generalize problem situations and raise questions about the most appropriate curriculum for building on students' intuitive knowledge of algebra. (Contains…

Discusses the use of case studies to encourage students to examine their own thinking processes. Concludes that the benefit of focusing on metacognitive skills is the increase in students' awareness. Suggests texts and their conventions are no longer rules and formulas, but tools writers use and options they can take; Metacognition allows writers…

Five adult students of various ethnic backgrounds, each deaf or hard-of hearing and blind or visually impaired, participated in testing a newly designed assistance card for soliciting help crossing the street. Results indicated that with the new card 101 pedestrians out of 183 offered assistance. (Contains references.) (CR)

A study investigated the effects of an instructional strategy within a graduated teaching sequence on the representation and solution of problem-solving skills encompassing integer numbers for six secondary students with learning disabilities. Results indicate problem-solving skills dramatically improved following instruction at the concrete,…

Discusses the kinds of abilities and knowledge that are measured in investigative performance assessment tasks in science. Questions the emphasis placed on the assessment of problem-solving and higher-order skills and calls for a rationale for performance assessment in the dimension of "scientific argumentation." (SLD)

Discusses ways some universities have dealt with eliminating insects and wildlife from their athletic fields. The types problems to look for, the damage pests can cause, the safety issues involved, and tips on remedies are examined. (GR)

An "ill-defined" informal performance task was constructed to evaluate secondary students' problem solving in mathematics. The task for 170 students in grades 9 and 10 was to evaluate other students' solutions to two mathematics questions. Higher-achieving students generally preferred responses reflecting multiple approaches to problem solving,…

Presents responses to a question that appeared in the February 1999 Problem Solvers section of this journal about using four isosceles triangles to make different figures. (ASK)

Explains how commissioning can help to ensure that all components in a new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system will work together as designed. Bowdoin College's experience with commissioning is highlighted. (GR)

Describes a Texas principal's experience of overseeing the consolidation of three elementary schools into a larger facility for nearly 1,000 students. The 3 years spent designing, building, and moving into the new facility were both exhilarating and exhausting. Advice on handling frustrations is provided. (MLH)

Describes the range of processes used by year 3 children engaged in solving non-routine mathematics problems. Discusses how it can be told when children are thinking mathematically. (ASK)

Responds to a letter from a camp leader who experienced difficulty with an adolescent girl during a 3-day hike and disapproved of a staff member's response. Offers advice on handling such a problem, addressing the staff member's intervention without undermining his credibility, revisiting the situation with the group, and exploiting the…

Describes students' enthusiasm for Tuesdays in an American community school in Greece when they get together in small groups to explore, conjecture, analyze, and solve mathematics problems. (ASK)