Discusses a study that examined which reasoning patterns are necessary for success in high school chemistry. Based on student (N=170) scores from the "Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning," it was revealed that students who use formal reasoning patterns are capable of greater achievement in chemistry. (ML)

This paper reports the evaluation of instructional provisions designed to foster higher cognitive skill in a computer programming course. This intervention explicitly encourages novice programmers to engage in the problem-solving skill of planning. (Author)

Research on intelligent tutoring systems is discussed from the point of view of providing moment-by-moment adaptation of content and form of instruction to the changing cognitive needs of individual learners. Implications of this goal for cognitive diagnosis, subject matter analysis, teaching tactics, and teaching strategies are analyzed. (Author)

Describes the Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Program developed to help Chapter 1 students learn better thinking skills that improve basic skills and social confidence. (MD)

Describes research in two different domains: novices learning programing, and school pupils interpreting Cartesian graphs. Findings in each domain are discussed, but the main focus is an examination of the extent to which general principles and issues apply across both domains. Research implications for instructional design are discussed.…

Describes information-processing research, showing how computer models are used to explain thinking and how information processing approaches can be used systematically. Clarifies why students find factor-label method so difficult to master and discusses guidelines and suggestions for using information-processing ideas. (JM)

Differentiates between problem solving and academic learning. The importance of problem-solving possibilities and the characteristics of good problems are discussed. Defines the teacher's role in problem-solving situations and in creating problem-solving possibilities. Delineates four types of problems on the basis of the responses they encourage:…

Cognitive theories of problem solving and cognitive psychologists' suggestions for teaching problem solving are reviewed. Theories and suggestions from creativity research are also considered. How high proficiency levels in problem solving are acquired and how best to teach problem-solving skills (for both well- and ill-structured problems) are…

Two studies were conducted to obtain information about the metacognitive environment of the preschool child and the impact of parent-child communication on problem solving. Children working with parents showed improvement on several problem-solving measures, but children working alone also improved, solely as a result of practice. (Author/PP)

This book is the first volume of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Practice Resources Series. It offers a cognitive problem-solving approach to the urgent need for children to acquire competence in meeting the demands of childhood within social, school, and family parameters. Designed for children from kindergarten through middle…

This study examines the use of question prompts and peer interactions as scaffolding strategies to help undergraduate students with their problem-solving processes on an ill-structured task. The mixed research method, combining both experimental and comparative multiple-case studies, was used to study the outcomes as well as the processes of…

A case study is presented on what is learned by a very advanced Math student in a ninth grade class (fifteen years old, approximately). This case was obtained from an exploratory study carried out in a classroom of eighteen students when the employment of certain cultural artifacts was introduced to approach the theme of basic geometrical…

This book focuses on three particular context-specific accounts of scientific thinking. The first section of the book presents research focused on extending knowledge of the fundamental components of scientific thinking. In the second section, research is presented that is focused primarily on how to build a structure for scientific thinking in…

Implications are that increasing a child's ability to think in terms of alternative solutions to real-life problems could supplement a primary preventive mental health program. (Authors)

Demonstrated is a covariance principle that causes the observer to assume that if one aspect of a two-dimensional figure (its perimeter or its area) is conserved, the other aspect must also be conserved (pseudo-conservation). Mentally retarded individuals, assuming no such fixed relationship, correctly judged the changed state of the nonconserved…