Presents ideas and activities designed to integrate poetry into the third-grade mathematics curriculum. Topics discussed include estimating, formulating and solving, comparing, and extending. Lists 11 poems that can be used. (10 references) (MKR)

To increase students' problem-solving abilities, the New York State New Compact for Learning requires schools to do more interdisciplinary, community-based work. Fairport High School's venture exploring the European Union evolved from Connections, a school-within-a-school program serving highly able students. Cooperation among three departments…

Examined preschoolers' strategic behavior on a task in which they must decide whether two arrays are the same. Results indicated that the course of strategy development is complex, there is much diversity within a child and among children in both strategy production and strategy utilization, and that children act in ways that are counter to…

Describes the activities of the kNights of Physics, a group of preservice teachers, whose goal is to spread the knowledge of the fun of physics to elementary students and their parents. (JRH)

Two steps in the social information process model were assessed for socially accepted and rejected children by verbal responses to stories embedded in computer games. Attributions of intent and aggressive problem solutions were correlated with contextual factors (interpersonal context, outcome of game, and story type) and with sex and social…

Examined preschool children's perceptions of the social competence of peers with and without disabilities. Subjects, in two classes that included six children with mild-to-severe developmental disabilities, indicated acceptance of their peers and their use of different problem-solving strategies. The disability status of the peer did not affect…

Addresses the following issues, as illustrated by methodological features of a year-long ethnography of two high-school English classes: (1) the particular features and purposes of ethnography as a research genre; (2) the contributions it has made; and (3) the greatest challenges facing the ethnographer. (TB)

Examines the importance of teaching critical thinking and intellectual standards through the use of an engaged lecture style. Indicates that engaged lectures pressure students to intellectually process the information conveyed by the teacher and thus better understand the lecture's content. Describes the key issues regarding the implementation of…

Evaluates the results of an experiment with comprehensive project-organized and problem-based engineering education at Aalborg University that has lasted for 20 years. Several independent evaluations show that the graduates are more readily adaptable, with strong qualities in the field of problem-solving, cooperation, communication, and…

Stresses the importance of teaching physics concepts over having students work on word problems. (MVL)

Presents four examples of physics problems that can be solved with a graphing calculator. Problems included deal with motion, harmonic oscillations, sound waves, and blackbody radiation. (JRH)

Describes an activity that challenges students to apply their knowledge of motion to designing and constructing roller coasters. Emphasizes the processes students go through to communicate their ideas and the problem-solving skills they develop. (JRH)

Examined the effects of activity period duration on preschoolers' play with playdough and blocks. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed significantly more constructive and dramatic play, and less functional play, at the end of the play period. Differences between the quality of play in block and playdough centers were found. (Author/BB)

Beliefs about mathematics of 26 junior and senior high school students were explored using interviews conducted before and after exposure to problem-solving software. A concept model of subjects' general beliefs about mathematics and their relationships was developed. Data analysis did not indicate any change in beliefs about mathematics following…

Six practicing artists were interviewed about how they overcome creative blocks. Their responses indicated that feelings of self-doubt, fear, and depression accompany blocks but that relaxing and working on new directions and playing ideas off a supportive person helped to overcome such blocks. (DB)