Leren Oplossen van Wiskundige Problemen in het Voortgezet Onderwijs (Learning To Solve Mathematical Problems in Secondary Education).

This study, conducted in the Netherlands, examined the effects of a problem-solving program on students' problem-solving and metacognitive skills. The program consisted of four parts involving one or more aspects of problem solving in the content areas of proportions, geometry, numbers, and solving equations and inequalities. The experimental program was implemented in seven classes from three secondary schools, and the control group consisted of seven classes from four secondary schools taking regular classes on the same subjects. Comparisons on pre- and posttest measures for the two groups indicated that students in the experimental group made better use of heuristic rules and were more reflective than students from the control group. A delayed posttest indicated that 3 months after the experimental period, the effect of the program had disappeared, implying that the positive effect of the program was temporary. A 13-page summary in English is included and a list of 161 references is provided. The appendixes include the instruments and research data. (MDH)