In this essay, I examine the concept of thinking in Hannah Arendt's writings. Arendt's interest in the experience of thinking allowed her to develop a concept of thinking that is distinct from other forms of mental activity such as cognition and problem solving. For her, thinking is an unending, unpredictable and destructive activity without fixed…

A semester-long laboratory course was designed and implemented to familiarize students with modern biochemistry and molecular biology techniques. The designed format involved active student participation, evaluation of data, and critical thinking, and guided students to become independent researchers. The first part of the course focused on…

In this paper, we introduce restorying, a pedagogical approach based on social constructivism that employs successive iterations of rewriting and discussing personal, student-generated, domain-relevant stories to promote conceptual application, critical thinking, and ill-structured problem solving skills. Using a naturalistic, qualitative case…

Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving competition for school-aged children that encourages creative growth and long-term problem solving skills. These skills are important for young children as they can be directly related to future success in school, home, and the workplace. This extracurricular activity has impacted 1.5 million…

The study examined factors important for professional success of graduates. It examined the state of graduates' employment considering generic skills acquired during course of studentship at the Wisconsin International University College (WIUC). The relevance academic programmes offered by the University College in helping graduates' maintain…

This study investigated the relationship between problem familiarity and students' learning in a problem-based course. Problem familiarity in this study refers to the extent to which a problem fits with students' prior knowledge and experiences. As part of regular course work, 172 students were given two problems on different occasions.…

Secondary school principals face no shortage of issues and challenges when it comes to ensuring that their teachers and students are ready for the Common Core State Standards. With so many issues competing for scarce time and resources, it is understandable that for many school leaders, the needs of high-ability and high-potential students are not…

In their 2011 study "Academically Adrift," Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa present considerable evidence that undergraduates in US colleges and universities make surprisingly little progress in their first two years of college. While acknowledging the force of this argument, the authors ask whether Arum and Roksa's evidence--about students'…

This article presents an interview with Susan Gendron, a policy coordinator at SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. In this interview, Gendron talks about the Common Core State Standards and their implications for school leaders.

This research was conducted in order to know the effect of Logan Avenue Problem Solving (LAPS)-Heuristic learning model towards critical thinking skills of students of class X Office Administration (APK) in SMK Negeri 1 Ngawi, East Java, Indonesia on material curve and equilibrium of demand and supply, subject Introduction to Economics and…

This article describes a two-day lesson in which fifth-grade students took on the role of marine biology scientists, using their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to explore human impact on the blue crab ecosystem. The purpose of "Crabby Interactions" was to help students understand the impact of human activities on the local…

In this first of a two-part series, the authors report that STEM is still mostly science and mathematics, taught separately with little or no attention to technology and engineering. Where connections do get made to technology and engineering, too often they happen through several disconnected projects that lack coherence in content standards and…

While teaching auditing using cases is regarded as an effective approach, spatial separation of students and teachers in online contexts can restrict the application of case teaching. This study examines an undergraduate auditing course implemented to address this challenge by integrating case teaching with ePortfolio assessment. Students' written…

Critical thinking, problem solving, the use of tools, and the ability to consume and analyze information are important skills for the 21st century workforce. This article presents a qualitative case study that follows five undergraduate biology majors in a computer science course (CS0). This CS0 course teaches programming within a data-driven…

The quality of professional education affects the quality of services offered to clients. Examples of avoidable ignorance that dilute the quality of education social workers receive are suggested, indicating that we have not been honest and energetic brokers of knowledge and ignorance. Related reasons are suggested, including a reluctance to take…