LaGuardia Community College's Teaching, Application and Reinforcement (TAR) Program helps students develop the three thinking techniques, calculative, reflective, and analytical thinking, necessary for the mental agility that must be a part of the changing climate of the business world. (RK)

Describes a new institute at West Virginia University that examines the roles of consciousness and thought in nonstressful living; some professors say it is promoting New Age bunk. (EV)

A 3-year project examined the cognitive effects of word processing on writing processes and products. In particular, the project examined effects on writers' planning, reviewing, and revising in a series of six assessment studies. Among the most important results of the project were that writers using word processing alone--both student writers…

University of California writing instructors must teach poorly prepared freshmen how to survive English classes and how to adapt the skills they learn to the rest of their university writing assignments. Reading, thinking, organizing, and stylistic problems are discussed. (MLW)

The National Writing Project (NWP) became a key institution in the effort to define a new level of minimum literacy. There is an increasing awareness of the importance of writing as an aid to thinking in all subject areas. The NWP staff development model is described. (MLW)

A computer program written for the Apple II was designed to teach college students how to map expository information. The program consists of five lessons, the first beginning with a definition and illustration of mapping. In this introductory lesson, students are asked to answer three basic questions when reading expository text: identify the…

Based on a philosophy of self-direction, Urbana College's program teaches students to create their own futures. The seven levels and associated processes include: (1) growing; (2) thinking; (3) deciding; (4) self-marketing; (5) first job (risk); (6) lifetime career patterns (commitment); and (7) retirement. (Author)

An educational intervention was effective in improving the judgment of experienced student-health physicians (N=11) in predicting positive culture in simulated patients with pharyngitis. The intervention was three parts: an initial one-hour lecture; three sessions with computer-based cognitive feedback; and monthly reports of the percentage of…

The common developmental problems of young adults--career focus, sex confidence, clarification of beliefs, and separation from parents--provide themes of interest to young adults. Using these themes and the human tendency to problem solve, specific information can be given to improve personal problem-solving skills without psychological games.…

Accent on Developing Abstract Processes of Thought (ADAPT) is a program designed to promote critical thinking among college students. Based on the theoretical work of Jean Piaget, it attempts to help University of Nebraska freshmen confront problems and follow them through to logical solutions. In its first year, the program's goals were to…

Provides a design for teaching group counseling leadership skills involving cognitive knowledge, group leadership techniques, membership participation, and supervised leadership experience in a single course for graduate students. Course evaluations have indicated students benefit from the group participation and leadership experience. (JAC)

Explains how education majors try to learn to recognize thought unit sentences (ThUS's) and to gauge their difficulty. Shows examples of simple writing and discusses the task of writing ThUS's to match style and level of author. Gives a rationale for doing a readability analysis in this way. (FL)

A faculty development program designed to encourage critical thinking skills across the curriculum at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire is described in this report. The program's goal was to stimulate faculty to add critical thinking to their pedagogical objectives. Faculty participants attended six 4-hour meetings designed to heighten their…

If academic material is to have the same force as social and personal experience at the college level, then educators need to allow more experiences on the academic road. That experiences are becoming more important is evidenced by the emergence of competency-based programs, experimental teaching programs, cluster colleges, and experiential…

Describes a summer program for prefreshman science students entering Xavier University, designed to develop their problem-solving and academic abilities by emphasizing the connection between reading comprehension and analytical skills. (MKM)