There is an explosion of cross-cultural research on cognitive development. This research has the following three phases of interaction with education: (1) the application of western approaches to the third world; (2) the search for culturally specific modes of learning; and (3) the testing of innovations for the education of minority children.…

Addresses the importance of recognizing the prior knowledge and misconceptions of science educators. Provides perspectives on the nature of knowledge, conceptions of learning, nature of science and of teaching, and the relationship between general principles of learning and teaching. (ML)

Educators have shown great interest in teaching thinking in the last five years. This overview introduces thinking skills instruction as the theme of this issue of "Educational Leadership" and distinguishes three different approaches: teaching for thinking, teaching about thinking, and teaching of thinking. (TE)

The notion that thinking can be taught as a separate skill is a philosophical mistake. Teachers who are knowledgeable about their subject, who understand how it differs from other disciplines, and who can convey this to their students are already teaching thinking skills. (TE)

Describes five studies in which the learning and transfer abilities of two- and four-year-old children were examined on a task that required them to combine two separately learned solutions to reach a goal. (HOD)

Two studies examined the relation between current developmental levels, as estimated by IQ, and proximal levels of development, as estimated by the efficiency of learning and transfer in assisted contexts. Subjects were 8- to ll-year-old children. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (HOD)

Tested 32 4-year-olds and 32 6-year-olds for free and cued recall following either play-and-remember or sort-and-remember instructions and assessed them for their metamemory of the efficacy of conceptual and perceptual sorting strategies. Younger children recalled more items under sort-and-remember, whereas no recall differences were found for the…

Demonstrates how three- and four-year-old children's (N=20) learning of a completely novel route across a city district is enhanced by an accompanying adult making the child aware of potential landmarks. The importance of permanent/ephemeral landmarks in the child's verbal and modelled-map accounts of the route and educational implications are…

Argues that the second language acquisition process involves two models, providing complementary accounts of different components which could be combined. An integrated model is proposed that would carry the acquisition-learning distinction of the Monitor Model while including the Neurofunctional Theory, which uses the distinction to describe the…

Outlines leadership capabilities that effective principals can exert to improve the teaching of higher level thinking skills to students. An important initial step is to make the development of student thinking skills a building priority at the school. (MD)

Critical thinking alone is reactive, in that it lacks the creative elements necessary for social progress. Accordingly, the author has developed the CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) program to teach the two aspects of perception: breadth (developing a perceptual map) and change (using the map to discover solutions). (TE)

An investigation of selected research projects which focus on intellectual development is presented. The treatment begins with a description of psychological-oriented studies and illustrates the many ways in which studying a second language in school settings contributes to the cognitive development of the learner. (Author/RM)

Forty Canadian Indian children in grades three and four were divided into two groups and given a minimum and a maximum remediation program to improve their sequential learning processes. The maximum program resulted in significant improvement in sequential tasks such as auditory and visual memory and reading tests. (JC)

These analyses form part of a three-year project looking at mathematical thinking as a socially organized activity. We revisit data from a University Calculus class using tools from two theoretical perspectives, used increasingly in mathematics education research: (1) semiotic mediation; and (2) discursive practices. We highlight how different…

During the past 15 years, physics education research has revealed many surprising things about the difficulties introductory physics students have in learning physics. At the same time, the ongoing revolution in information technology has led to new tools for creating innovative educational environments. In response to these two developments, a…