This text explores the importance that problem solving has in learning in everyday personal and social contexts. It also suggests how effective problem solving activities can be incorporated more explicitly in learning and teaching and examines the benefits of this approach.

Section 1: Setting the Scene, 1: Michael Lawson: Teacher of Teachers and Researchers, and Academic Citizen, 2: Learning is a Problem-solving Activity, Section 2: Conceptualising Problem Solving, 3: Human Problem Solving and Instructional Design, 4: Academic Challenges as Opportunities to Learn to Self-regulate Learning, 5: Word Knowledge Quality and Literacy, 6: Developing Problem Solving and Other General Capabilities: What Will It Take and How Can We Be Sure of Success?, 7: Messy Problems of Personal and Family Life: Solving Inheritance Problems, Section 3: Teachers' Knowledge and Beliefs about Problem Solving, 8: Teachers' Beliefs and Knowledge, 9: The Quality of Knowledge and Beliefs that Teachers Use When Solving Teaching and Learning Problems, 10: Problematising Assessment of Student Learning, 11: Types of Knowledge Teachers Use When Solving Educational Problems: A Case Study of the Implementation of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) Program , Section 4: Fostering Students' Problem-solving Capabilities, 12: Problem Solving by Students with Intellectual Disability, Chapter 13: What Gifted Students and a Regular Class of Primary School Students Know and Do about Problem Solving, Chapter 14: Problem Solving Using the Keyword Method and Mental Imagery During Vocabulary Recall, Chapter 15: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Problem-solving Practice When Learning Basic Addition Facts, Chapter 16: Problem Solving in Mathematics: Evidence of High-gain Strategies, Chapter 17: Synergy between Teachers' Knowledge and Students' Learning: Perspectives from Research on Mathematics Education, Chapter 18: Reflections on a Ten-year Research Partnership with Glenunga International High School