The Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) will establish technical standards and guidelines to ensure that the survey design and implementation processes of PIAAC yield high-quality and internationally comparable data. This document provides a revised version of the technical standards and guidelines originally…

Three forces are combining to mandate a more highly skilled work force: (1) technological advancement, (2) job growth centered on high-skill occupations, and (3) new work organizational strategies. As many as 50 million workers, many of them minorities and immigrants, may have to be trained or retrained in the next 12 years. (CH)

Explains the difference between everyday thinking and academic thinking. Maintains that children who experience academic learning problems may rely too much on everyday thinking skills. Relates examples of this problem in reading, mathematics, and science. (JDH)

Presents a two-dimensional conceptual model which outlines a comprehensive approach to skill-oriented counselor training. Discusses eight major counselor roles: attender; clarifier; informer or describer; prober or inquirer; supporter or reassurer; motivator or prescriber; evaluator or analyzer; and problem solver. (Author)

Reports on the winning tool creations by 1,300 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in the 1997 Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program. Students had to use mechanical and science process skills to design and build tools to meet their needs in solving a problem. The winning entry was a calibrated angle and depth scissors. (AIM)

Counseling skills of concreteness enable clients to get a more specific awareness of their present problems and develop more functional strategies for taking action. A conceptual framework for recognizing and eliciting client material that needs to be explored concretely is presented. (Author)

Describes current issues and difficulties inherent to the topic of critical thinking in physical education; also presents and discusses a schematic representation of a theoretical critical thinking model for the psychomotor domain (cognitive organizing, cognitive action, cognitive and psychomotor outcomes, and metacognitive monitoring). (SM)

This document was prepared to help parents, educators, and concerned citizens better understand how children and adolescents actually learn. True learning involves: (1) developing a passion for learning; (2) acquiring communication skills; (3) constructing new knowledge; (4) taking part in concrete activities; and (5) developing problem solving…

Examines the shift in schools toward using software that teaches critical thinking skills. A list of 14 packages is also provided, with each entry including name, recommended age level(s), current cost, source, and a brief description. (JN)

Describes the process of problem-based learning (PBL), discusses the history of the movement, and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of PBL. Explains the advantages of PBL in developing desirable attributes in biochemistry graduates which include being able to generalize, being able to interpret data, and possessing knowledge of relevant…

This book describes the friend-to-friend process, a non-professional approach for helping a friend through a problem. The first chapter presents a transcript of a high school senior working through a problem. The use of three questions which address three levels of the human personality (thoughts, feelings, and actions) is described. Guidelines…

This report provides a summary of testimony delivered at hearings around the country concerning Objectives Four and Five of National Education Goal Five that address the need to increase qualified student college enrollment (especially of minorities) and completion of at least 2 years (Objective Four), and the need to raise the proportion of…

Argues that proving something begins with an assumption and proceeds logically to a conclusion, thus convincing by offering arguments. Describes some pitfalls involved in proving through examining several case histories. Offers suggestions for teaching the proof process. For example, sometimes an extreme example or counterexample will do more to…

Theorizes that there are two primary dimensions or continua along which delays or dysfunctions may occur in career decision making: the decided/undecided state and the decisiveness/indecisiveness trait. Suggest that the combination of the two dimensions yields four distinct diagnostic categories which demonstrate the need for differential…

High school physics, if taught properly, should be accessible to 50% of students rather than the currently estimated 20% of students. Suggests changes that need to be made in course format, including giving plenty of problem-solving help, improving high school texts to conform to principles of learning, and designing a course so that all can…