This paper develops the ideas of "The Pedagogical Power of Context: Iterative Calculus Methods and the Epidemiology of Eyam" (French "et al." 2018 "J. Phys. Educ."), where we considered the application of the Euler method to solve epidemiological problems. Our purpose was to convey some examples of school level work…

A successful instructional method is to engage learners with exploratory problem-solving before providing explanations of the canonical solutions and foundational concepts. A key question is whether and what type of guidance will lead learners to explore more productively and how this guidance will affect subsequent learning and transfer. We…

This paper shares how fourth grade students solved a unique type of number line task. Instead of giving students the unit and asking them to locate a fraction on the number line, students were given two points on the number line and asked to either find 1, or another number on the number line. This type of task is called "reconstructing the…

Students' attitudes and approaches to problem solving are claimed to be related to their ways they learn physics and to their success in solving physics problems. In this study, the Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving (AAPS) survey was used to reveal Turkish introductory university students' attitudes and approaches to physics problem…

In this brief article, the author illustrates the flaws of FOIL (multiply the First, Outer, Inner, and Last terms of two binomials) and introduces the box method. Much like FOIL, the box method can become easy to use. Unlike FOIL, however, the box method is a more direct and visible link to using the distributive property to determine area, a…

Researchers have documented many misconceptions students hold about sampling variability. This study takes a different approach--instead of identifying shortcomings, we consider the productive reasoning pieces students construct as they reason about sampling distributions. We interviewed eight undergraduate students newly enrolled in an…

In children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there are often discrepancies between direct assessment and third-party reports. We compared these children with groups with/without difficulties in interpersonal problem-solving skills in order to determine whether these discrepancies appear and if they could be a diagnostic indicator for ASD.…

In theory, STEM (interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is cross-disciplinary and situated in real-world problem-solving contexts. In practice, STEM disciplines are often implemented separately using contrived contexts. This paper examines theoretical and empirical aspects of Montessori middle school science in the…

Expert designers determine what problem needs to be solved by creating a frame that allows the identification of potential solutions. However, it is unclear how students learn to generate these frames effectively, particularly in relation to ethical decision-making and selecting appropriate constraints. In this study, undergraduate and graduate…

One of the research objectives was formulated to improve the quality of education, namely by understanding the problems of students and teachers. There were three main groups of quality characteristics of education highlighted in scientific and academic literature in Russia, namely the quality of educational objectives, the quality of the…

This paper provides an overview of John Dewey's ecological psychology and his basic concepts: experience, inquiry, and habit. The concept of habit, which is particularly relevant in understanding problem-solving strategies, is further explicated on the basis of Gross's (2009. "A Pragmatist Theory of Social Mechanisms." "American…

This article presents theoretical and empirical support for a data-driven instructional coaching approach and emerging evidence for the contributions of an online platform in operationalizing, assessing, and facilitating the implementation of key coaching actions for both research and practice. The contributions of an online platform in guiding…

As teammates adjust their cognition and behavior, synchronizations of information can be observed across verbal, postural, and neurophysiological systems. This study explored the synchrony of mutually interacting brains, or team neurosynchrony, during cyber-enabled collaborative problem solving. Mixed-sex dyads defined and solved an authentic…

Out of all the measures of cognitive load, germane load is crucial in determining one's motivation towards learning. The dynamics between the two becomes even more important when individuals are required to grasp understanding of complex content such as the one presented by math. Current stud explores the relationship between the three facets of…

Issues in society such as immigration and racial inequality threaten to derail classroom discussions. Likewise, issues in higher education such as general education (GE) reform threaten to obstruct faculty committee discussions. We want students to engage in classroom discussions through a comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, and events…