A critical incident is an unexpected event that occurs in the classroom. Teachers can uncover a new understanding of the teaching and learning process through reflecting on these critical incidents. This study explored the writing and discussion of critical incidents among six student teachers with their cooperating teachers in a practicum under…

Discusses the problems of using chronometric analysis, a common cognitive psychological method, for educational assessment. Suggests that cognitive assessment has not reached the precision needed to analyze individual differences. (FMW)

Results support the general conclusion that the disposition to respond in either a reflective or impulsive fashion influences the problem-solving efficiency and strategy behavior of elementary school children. The relative impact of cognitive style on problem solving varied with developmental level and the type of problem solved. (Author/BJG)

Provides framework for assessing the extent to which problem-solving skills learned through LOGO, a children's graphics-oriented-structured computer language, may be transferred to other contexts. Examines principles governing generalization of learning. Discusses learning transfer and components of the LOGO experience that may affect transfer.…

Whether hierarchical ordering among fraction identification problems reflects the replacement of simple rules by complex rules was investigated. Latent class techniques revealed that children applied rules that were adequate for simple problems but had to be replaced to solve more complex problems. (Author/GK)

Examines children's word perception demonstrating the role of Piaget's perceptual development formation and individual aptitude differences in problem solving strategies. (MM)

Two studies were conducted with 8- and 10-year-old children to examine sources of age and skill differences in verbal analogical reasoning. Discussion focuses on the child's "problem space" for the analogy task and possible differences in task understanding that lead to strategy and process differences in older versus younger and skilled versus…

Reviews evidence that children use diverse cognitive strategies; discusses the adaptive value of using diverse strategies; describes models of strategy choice based on rational calculations; and presents an overview of the distributions of associations model of children's strategy choice. (RH)

Open meetings are regularly scheduled times when all class members and the teacher sit together in a closed circle to discuss important topics, such as name-calling. Such meetings are structured, moving from reviewing ground rules to posing a warmup question, encouraging numerous perspectives, personalizing the topic, and challenging students to…

This booklet of short essays on humanizing the education of children was printed to help elementary educators focus on the main purpose for their being--to help children fully realize their humanity. The author's educational philosophy and its applications are covered by such subjects as the individual in a democracy, the meaning of freedom, the…

A large sample of 11-year-olds were observed on a perceptual maze task. Three ability level groups were formed and compared as to overall response paths and specific binary decision configurations. Explanations for observed qualitative differences and discussion of the viability of the experimental approach adopted are presented. (Author/RD)

This study examined help-seeking and achievement behavior in elementary shool girls in a problem-solving situation. Classified as high or low in mastery orientation on the basis of their scores on a subset of items on the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale, 40 fourth and sixth grade girls participated in the study. Children's task…

This research investigates how individual differences in strategic abilities affect problem solving and, more particularly, the extent to which hypothesis-generating skills predict effective hypothesis testing. Additional questions concerned the effects of content and timing of instructional advice on children's problem-solving strategies, and…

Research findings related to the development of language, abstract reasoning, and problem solving-skills by children from three to eight years old are integrated by consideration of classroom implications. Individual differences, the teacher-child relationship, and other topics are also discussed in this context. (SD)

Developmental differences in reasoning ability and item processing demands are analyzed in a study of cognitive determinants of number analogy performance in two IQ levels of elementary school children and college students. The amount of solution-related information in working memory was the crucial processing demand. Process differentiations of…