The aim of this study was to analyse the role of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory (WM) and language skills (vocabulary, listening comprehension) in predicting preschool and kindergarten-aged children's ability to solve mathematical word problems presented orally. The participants were 116 Finnish-speaking children aged 4-7?years. The…

This study evaluates the effects of an intervention aimed at improving representational flexibility in linear-function problems. Forty-nine students aged 13-16 participated in the study. A pretest-intervention-posttest design with an experimental and control group was used. At pretest, both groups solved a choice test, where they could freely…

This study evaluated a professional learning approach using a core team (CT) model to assist primary (elementary) schools to develop whole-school collaborative conflict resolution processes. Thirteen schools were matched and randomly assigned to the enhancing relationships in school communities programme ("n"?=?10) or a non-programme control group…

The study aimed to uncover the conceptions of creativity among early childhood teachers in Hong Kong. The sample comprised 563 early childhood teachers. Factor analysis supported the multidimensional hypothesis of teachers' conceptions of creativity. Five dimensions were found: novelty, product, problem solving, cognitive processes and personal…

This study investigates the processes through which achievement motivation guides the selection of coping strategies which in turn affects environmental mastery post-failure feedback. Seventy-six college students received failure feedback after completing a professional aptitude test. Findings showed that gender moderated the relationship between…

Math achievement is not a unidimensional construct but includes different skills that require different cognitive abilities. The focus of this study was to examine associations between a number of cognitive abilities and three domains of math skills (knowing, applying and problem solving) simultaneously in a multivariate framework. Participants…

Robust knowledge serves as a common instructional target in academic settings. Past research identifying characteristics of experts' knowledge across many domains can help clarify the features of robust knowledge as well as ways of assessing it. We review the expertise literature and identify three key features of robust knowledge (deep,…

Field dependence/independence cognitive style was found to relate to general academic achievement and specific areas of mathematics; in the majority of studies, field-independent students were found to be superior to field-dependent students. The present study investigated the relationship between field dependence/independence cognitive style and…

The present study explored South Korean prospective early childhood educators' situation-specific meta-cognitive knowledge about five problem-solving strategies, investigating whether situated strategic knowledge contributed to teacher self-efficacy domains. Overall, pre-service teachers with higher meta-cognitive knowledge were found to have…

This article reports on a two year project in which educational psychologists offered consultation to groups of teachers, to help them find solutions to school-based problems. Teachers were drawn from within individual schools and from across a number of schools. Typically, teachers were trained by educational psychologists in group consultation…

An organisational change-process in a UK local authority (LA) over two years is examined using transcribed excerpts from three meetings. The change-process is analysed using a Foucauldian analytical tool--Iterative Learning Conversations (ILCS). An Educational Psychology Service was changed from being primarily an education-focussed…

Complex problem solving (CPS) as a cross-curricular competence has recently attracted more attention in educational psychology as indicated by its implementation in international educational large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. However, research on the development of CPS is scarce, and the few…

This paper explores how educational psychologists working in a training/consultative way can enable teachers to manage challenging pupil behaviour more effectively. It sets out a rationale which encourages schools to embrace a group based teacher peer-support system as part of regular school development. It then explores the usefulness of the…

Innovative assessments of cross-curricular competencies such as complex problem solving (CPS) have currently received considerable attention in large-scale educational studies. This study investigated the nature of CPS by applying a state-of-the-art approach to assess CPS in high school. We analyzed whether two processes derived from cognitive…

The use of manipulatives to teach mathematics is often prescribed as an efficacious teaching strategy. To examine the empirical evidence regarding the use of manipulatives during mathematics instruction, we conducted a systematic search of the literature. This search identified 55 studies that compared instruction with manipulatives to a control…