This study examines the construct of problem representation and the processes used by learners to construct or modify problem representations in problem-solving situations. Students (n=14) from freshman calculus courses at the University of California at San Diego participated in videotaped interviews in which they were asked to think aloud as…

College algebra is currently being taught using graphing calculators such as the TI-81. This document presents exploratory and problem solving activities that have resulted from classroom experiences with the TI-81. The activities have been designed to enhance the learning of some standard college algebra topics through the easy access to…

A comparative analysis is presented of adolescent participation in three-person family problem-solving groups, involving five families with an adolescent diabetic and three families with an adolescent with no diagnosed illness. Observation and interaction analysis of family problem-solving in a laboratory setting were used, as families were asked…

The typical approach to studying the cognitive competencies of the elderly involves giving the same task to samples of elderly adults and college students. On such comparisons of performance of cognitive tasks, the elderly have almost always been found to be inferior, which is interpreted as indicating an irreversible age-determined decline in…

Presented are the results of an investigation of stimulus integration capabilities of three- and four-year-old children in judgments of small and large numbers. There is much evidence that suggested young children have a concept of number for small numbers, but not for large ones. A concept of number was hypothesized by Piaget to rest on the…

This investigation focuses upon the question of: (1) how naive subjects organize and represent knowledge when solving problems; (2) how previous experience of a novice is used in solving a problem; (3) what kinds of information and knowledge are sought as well as overlooked by novices when solving problems; (4) what kinds of strategies novices…

This paper describes the rationale behind and the development and utilization of a bibliographic instruction course which incorporates formal abstract reasoning skills. The limitations of the search strategy technique of bibliographic instruction are discussed as well as the fact that many college students have not developed sophisticated…

This document presents the course content for a workshop that integrates the use of the computer algebra system Derive with topics in matrix and linear algebra. The first section is a guide to using Derive that provides information on how to write algebraic expressions, make graphs, save files, edit, define functions, differentiate expressions,…