In this article, the authors aim to identify the causal effect of the use of graded problem sets on academic performance of Spanish students. The identification strategy relies on an experiment in which the authors exploit variation arising from observing the performance of nearly 300 students taking the same class during the same semester and…

Using a design-based research approach, we developed a data-rich problem (DRP) set to improve student understanding of cellular respiration at the ecosystem level. The problem tasks engage students in data analysis to develop biological explanations. Several of the tasks and their implementation are described. Quantitative results suggest that…

In providing a continued focus on tasks and activities that help to illustrate key ideas embedded in the new Australian Curriculum, this issue the authors focus, on Geometry in the Measurement and Geometry strand with strong links for an integrated focus on the Statistics and Probability strand. The small unit of work on the sorting and…

The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend a previous study by Burns ("Education and Treatment of Children" 28: 237-249, 2005) examining the effectiveness of incremental rehearsal on computation performance. A multiple-probe design across multiplication problem sets was employed for one participant to examine digits correct per minute…

In looking at successful inquiry activities, patterns in pedagogical approach emerge (Meyer et al. 2011). This article discusses one such approach--the design challenge. A design challenge can be defined as an activity in which students are given an explicit task to create a product that meets a defined goal. However, simply asking students to…

In Japan, only a few public libraries provide e-mail reference services. To help public libraries start e-mail reference services, the authors investigated reference questions received by libraries via e-mail and traditional face-to-face services. The authors found that research questions are more frequently observed among e-mail questions and…

This paper justifies the need for, and offers some suggestions on, the selection and implementation of mathematical problems known as dynamic solution exercises (DSEs). The intent of this article is to help provide insight into how mathematics teachers can go about making "vertical articulation" a cooperative and tangible part of the…

The great gorilla jump is an activity designed to allow calculus students to construct an understanding of the structure of the Riemann sum and definite integral. The activity uses the ideas of position, velocity, and time to allow students to explore familiar ideas in a new way. Our research has shown that introducing the definite integral as…

Practical project work based on eBay selling prices is described. It is suitable for secondary school students of a wide range of statistical expertise and it may be used to introduce a statistical package. (Contains 4 figures and 5 tables.)

Could problem solving be the object of teaching in early education? Could appropriate teaching interventions develop to scaffold children's efforts to solve problems? These were the central questions of this article. The sample consisted of 18 children attending public pre-school in Cyprus. The problem they were asked to solve was to find all…

This article presents a problem set which includes a selection of probability problems. Probability theory started essentially as an empirical science and developed on the mathematical side later. The problems featured in this article demonstrate diversity of ideas and different concepts of probability, in particular, they refer to Laplace and…

Last semester, the author had a particularly vocal class that made it clear that they disliked small group exercises. In an attempt to understand their discomfort, she had this class generate a list of the top 10 reasons they disliked small group exercises. Some of the reasons listed by the students are exactly why the author uses small group work…

This article presents different approaches to a problem, dubbed by the author as "the consecutive pages problem". The aim of this teaching-oriented article is to promote the teaching of abstract concepts in mathematics, by selecting a challenging amusement problem and then presenting various solutions in such a way that it can engage the attention…

Educational problem sets have been developed on structured organic particulate systems (SOPS) used in pharmaceutical technology. The sets present topics such as particle properties and powder flow and can be integrated into K-12 and college-level curricula. The materials educate students in specific areas of pharmaceutical particulate processing,…

Problem solving is a highly valued skill in chemistry. Courses within this discipline place a substantial emphasis on problem-solving performance and tend to weigh such performance heavily in assessments of learning. Researchers have dedicated considerable effort investigating individual factors that influence problem-solving performance. The…