ABSTRACT

Problem Solving for Teaching and Learning explores the importance of problem solving to learning in everyday personal and social contexts.

This book is divided into four sections: Setting the scene; Conceptualising problem solving; Teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about problem solving; and Fostering students’ problem-solving capabilities, allowing readers to gain an insight into the various sub-topics that problem solving in learning and teaching introduce. Drawing together diverse perspectives on problem solving located in a variety of educational settings, this book explores problem solving theory, including its cognitive architecture, as well as attending to its translation into teaching and learning in a range of settings, such as education and social environments. This book also suggests how effective problem-solving activities can be incorporated more explicitly in learning and teaching and examines the benefits of this approach.

The ideas developed in Problem Solving for Teaching and Learning will act as a catalyst for transforming practices in teaching, learning, and social engagement in formal and informal educational settings, making this book an essential read for education academics and students specialising in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and problem solving.

section 11|2 pages

Setting the scene

chapter 1|7 pages

Michael Lawson

Teacher of teachers and researchers, and academic citizen

section 232|2 pages

Conceptualising problem solving

chapter 6|17 pages

Developing problem solving and other general capabilities

What will it take and how can we be sure of success?

chapter 7|13 pages

Messy problems of personal and family life

Solving inheritance problems

section 973|2 pages

Teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about problem solving

chapter 11|17 pages

Types of knowledge teachers use when solving educational problems

A case study of the implementation of the Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS) Program

section 1574|2 pages

Fostering students’ problem-solving capabilities

chapter 16|21 pages

Problem solving in mathematics

Evidence of high-gain strategies

chapter 17|11 pages

Synergy between teachers’ knowledge and students’ learning

Perspectives from research on mathematics education