A teacher-designed study of 46 eighth-grade students in a southeastern middle school showed that a majority of students (male and female of high, average, and low ability) liked integrated curriculum, though males favored it more highly than females. This information lends support for middle-school curriculum reform efforts focusing on life skills…

This literature review examines the contribution of the LOGO programming language toward facilitating elementary school students' learning and in promoting problem-solving skills. Topics addressed include positive and negative effects of LOGO use; LOGO theory and development; transfer of LOGO skills; and support for structured, teacher-mediated…

Describes a study that investigated the activities of engineering students working on a collaborative design project in a distributed multimedia environment. Topics discussed include learning as a social process; face-to-face and video communication; problem-solving techniques; use of interactive media; the construction of knowledge; and group…

Compares the practice of using drawings in story problems in Japan and the United States and includes recommendations for teachers in the United States. (Contains 14 references.) (MKR)

Discusses opportunities to use nursery rhymes to aid in the mathematical development of young children. Considers rhymes that involve patterns, ordering, and problem solving. (MKR)

Describes what research has found about the use of collaborative mind mapping to facilitate the development of constructivist preservice teacher education programs. The paper discusses explicit connections between collaborative mind mapping and constructivism, varieties of mind maps, mind mapping as an invitation to thought, and how to use mind…

Several Maryland schools are experimenting with Roots and Wings, a collaborative project of Saint Mary's County Schools, the state education department, and Johns Hopkins University. Funded by the New American Schools Development Corporation, the pilot project's goals are to guarantee every child's successful completion of elementary school and to…

Two teachers compared eighth graders who solved math story problems using a strategies approach (several strategies), a strategies and traditional approach, or a traditional approach. Achievement test results improved with the strategies approach. Students who learned strategies considered themselves good problem solvers who liked challenge and…

Presents the idea that, to improve secondary science, school science teaching students must be taught to use the activities of science: questioning, information gathering, hypothesizing, testing and conveying, and confronting current issues and problems in science. Activities and ideas that can be used to help students understand and use the…

A series of activities involving figurate numbers that allow students at various levels to integrate numerical, geometric, arithmetic, patterning, measuring, and problem-solving skills are presented. A discussion of the geometric and numerical aspects of figurate numbers is included. Appended are IBM Logo procedures that will create pentagonal…

A study on the impact of misconceptions on preservice elementary teachers' processes in solving problems involving multiplication and division of decimals is described. Included are the purpose of the study, a description of the subjects, instruments, and interviews, the findings, and discussion. (KR)

Studied the transactional relationship between parental support and the development of competence in children. Results indicated a strong effect of parental support on a child's competence in infancy, a gender-differentiated stability of competence from infancy to the end of elementary school, and a relationship between the competence of a child…

Recommends the use of concealed images as tools for teaching geography. Suggests that images be used as examples of geographers' search for spatial regularities, metaphors for the quasi-religious quest for scientific truth, and fallibility of scientific citation. Argues that the purpose of geography becomes palpable to students when the concealed…

Problem-solving models in memories of 11 good and 12 poor novice first-year university students were studied. The students reconstructed physics problems seen briefly, relying on models in memory. Both good and poor students had models of problem situations at their disposal, but good students performed better than poor students. (SLD)

A study compared university chemistry students' (n=19) performances in creativity exercises, concept mapping, and traditional examinations. Performance in all three correlated with deep study strategy, but low correlations between the three methods suggests that they test different aspects of chemistry knowledge. Use and integration of all three…