Those who are good at solving practical problems.

Adopt a flexible approach to solving problems

Instead of trying to get children to work hard, why not focus on getting them to take pleasure in meaningful, productive activity, like making things, working with others, exploring ideas, and solving problems?

The tests are designed to detect subtle changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbol.

In a paper published recently, Kapur applied the principle of productive failure to mathematical problem solving in three schools.

Allowing students a free hand in problem solving

Government action is key to solving economic problems.

At the moment candidates are selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities.

They are very good at solving practical problems.

After the high-pressure Countdown round at this year's national Math Counts competition, in which the top 12 students went head to head solving complex problems in rapid fire, the finalists for the Math video Challenge took the stage to show their videos.

Another influential feeder for advanced-math students is an online school called Art of Problem Solving, which began about 13 years ago and now has 15,000 users.

Less inherently interpersonal subjects, such as math, could acquire a social aspect through team problem solving and peer tutoring.