Mathematics curricula have traditionally focused on content knowledge, often in the form of a scope and sequence of increasingly difficult mathematics. The importance of using and applying mathematics is recognised in the current Australian Curriculum Mathematics (AC: M) as 'proficiencies' that are intended to be integrated with the content. There…

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is one of the most influential assessments of student achievement conducted at regular interval every four years. It provides reliable data about the mathematics and science achievement of students in grade 4 and grade 8, as well as data that informs instruction, curriculum…

One goal of undergraduate engineering education is to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and decision-making strategies that are necessary for success in engineering practice. One proposed method to teach students these skills is to incorporate habits of mind into K-12 and undergraduate curricula. Habits of mind are the intelligent,…

This toolkit provides activities and resources to assist practitioners in designing and delivering intensive interventions in reading and mathematics for K-12 students with significant learning difficulties and disabilities. Grounded in research, this toolkit is based on the Center on Instruction's "Intensive Interventions for Students Struggling…

The use of drawing in the classroom has a contentious history in the U.S. education system. While most instructors and students agree that the activity helps students focus and observe more details, there is a lack of empirical data to support these positions. This study examines the use of three treatments (writing a description, drawing a…

The "Multiple Intelligences, Curriculum and Assessment Project" at University College Cork was a collaborative project carried out between 1995 and 1999. The key research question focused on whether Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences could be applied to, and enhance, aspects of curriculum and assessment at primary and…

The concept of a curriculum task, defined as a task having goals, procedures for achieving goals, external resources (e.g., instructional materials), and internal resources (student's prior learning), leads to questions that can guide curriculum inquiry. For example, what are we doing to help students use their resources in accomplishing tasks?…

Modes of thought (symbolic, imagic, affective), thinking processes (reasoning, intuiting), and habits of mind should be exercised in elementary and middle schools. Interdisciplinary processes of inquiry and organization of curriculum around major ideas and questions are a better way to prepare youth. (SK)

The essays in this book start from the premise that curriculum, assessment, teacher education programs, and all aspects of teaching must seek out, acknowledge, and take advantage of all the pathways that people might take to their understanding. The examples included illustrate how people can come to equivalent understandings in such different…

Walla Walla Schools (Washington) designed a demonstration project using the Marzano thinking skills model, which emphasizes learning preparation, content thinking, and basic reasoning skills. Placing selected thinking skills within specific curriculum areas and grade levels proved so successful that teachers then collaborated on a content-free…

Concepts, propositions, proposition sets, and process patterns are discussed as elements of a model of language-related basic thinking skills. The term "concept" is defined and illustrated, and a model of concept attainment is briefly described. Illustrations are offered for a set of 430 basic concept clusters intended for use as a…

Once corporate-sponsored material gets into the classroom, teachers can use it to teach critical thinking skills, such as analyzing and drawing conclusions from statistics and graphs; identifying and labeling examples of bias, propaganda, and racial and sex stereotyping; detecting and recording fallacies; and identifying "pro" and "con" arguments.…

Reviews studies on the cognitive mechanisms underlying creative thought and proposes a general model. This model holds that creative thought involves interactions among a number of distinct cognitive components. Some of the implications of this model for the design of effective educational programs are discussed. (Author/CR)

There has been a flood of publications concerned with the teaching of thinking and problem solving, a great many exploring definitions and approaches to instruction. This book explores the implications of recent theoretical positions as in the work of Elliott Jaques, Joseph Walters, and Howard Gardner; examines the long interest and study of…

Describes characteristics of successful problem solvers and reports programs at all educational levels designed to help students improve their skills. (Author/MLF)