If you've ever asked yourself whether problem-based learning (PBL) can bring new life to both your teaching and your students' learning, here's your answer: Yes. This all-in-one guide will help you engage your students in scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios will prompt K-12 students…

You are a school administrator--a principal or maybe a district leader. You're doing everything "right"--poring over data, trying new strategies, launching annual initiatives, bringing in outside trainers. So why do the outcomes you seek still seem so far away? The problem isn't you; it's that you were trained in school leadership, and…

Unresolved conflicts in schools build barriers to learning, including low motivation, lack of focus, and disruptive behaviors that remove students from the classroom. When teacher-student conflicts occur, the negative effects can be long-lasting without a safe and structured way to repair the relationship. This reader-friendly guidebook has a…

Recent "reform" curricula both ignore the absence of supporting data and completely misunderstand the role of problem solving in cognition. If, the argument goes, teachers are not really teaching people mathematics but rather are teaching them some form of general problem solving, then mathematical content can be reduced in importance. According…

"Using the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics With Gifted and Advanced Learners" provides teachers and administrators examples and strategies to implement the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with advanced learners at all stages of development in K-12 schools. The book describes--and demonstrates with specific examples from the…

This dissertation reports the research methodology and findings of three studies focused on mathematical modeling as a structured problem-solving process where the student translates relevant details from a situation, event, or phenomena in daily life into mathematical language with mathematically-defined structures and operations, which form the…

School district leaders nationwide aspire to help their schools become vibrant places for learning--where students have meaningful academic opportunities and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Historically, though, school district central offices have been ill-equipped to support such ambitious goals. A new wave of research…

Demonstrates how teachers can move their students from the novice into the expert range of problem-solving strategies. Utilizes a problem-solving model that follows how such skills develop. (DDR)

The Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) strives to improve STEM education through engineering and believes every student should have the chance to engineer. Situated in Massachusetts, the first state to adopt engineering education at all levels in public schools (Massachusetts DOE, 2001), the CEEO supports the…

Four specific problems are presented, discussed, and extended to illustrate how diverse instructional strategies, materials, and resources can be used to develop problem-solving skills. (MP)

Techniques for overcoming chronic gender differences in mathematics and science achievement are provided, focusing primarily on the teacher's role in establishing a safe and nurturing classroom environment. Strategies for fostering female students' confidence include thoroughly teaching problem solving processes, openly discussing gender…

This book is designed to help better understand problem-solving instruction. It presents information on helping students understand the problem-solving process as well as information on teaching specific strategies, including: Choose an Operation; Find a Pattern; Make a Table; Make an Organized List; Draw a Picture or Diagram; Guess, Check, and…

Much of the emphasis in this handbook is on helping students develop investigative, problem-solving, and thinking skills, but the importance of students' working together in a cooperative and democratic setting to solve problems is also stressed. Cooperative learning is an instructional tool that can often be used to the student's advantage. Part…

This publication contains two topics concerning estimation and problem solving contained in one volume. It illustrates to parents that there are many opportunities every day to develop, nurture, and refine their child's mathematics skills. The section on estimation is rich with ideas on how to help a child become a better estimator using everyday…

A rationale for the teaching of thinking and problem-solving skills is outlined, and the definition of and design for teaching such skills are discussed. Developing the ability of students to think has surfaced in recent years as one of the major purposes of American education. Problem solving has been described as a major type of thinking…