Despite the current emphasis on thinking skills and the resulting concentration on lists and taxonomies that do not succeed beyond research contexts, all reflective people know that critical thought relies not on applying mental steps but on simply trying to figure out what might be right or wrong. This depends on one basic cognitive act,…

A domain-specific information processing model of problem solving behavior in elementary electrostatics was developed. Instruction based on this model was evaluated in a large university-level physics course. The experimental design utilized treatment and instructor as crossed factors. Dependent variables included a test of problem solving…

The intent of this article is to describe the basic processes used by the child in order to create and imagine; to explain the significance of objects for encouraging creativity, imagination, and intellectual growth; and to show how creative thinking is nurtured using the world of objects. Five reasons are advanced to support the claim that the…

For a teleconference to be successful, presentations need to be both interesting and educational. The integration of media components such as slide, overhead transparencies, videotapes, or handouts in an audio teleconference expands a single-channel presentation into a multi-sensory channel presentation. The selection and utilization of such media…

This annotated bibliography attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What is criticial thinking? (2) Can it be taught and to whom? (3) Which methods are most practical for teaching critical thinking to secondary students? and (4) Can its acquisition be tested? The first question researches the literature for a definition of the term. The…

High School teachers from Idaho and Utah describe several experience-oriented teaching strategies that exemplify what teachers can produce when given support to undertake sustained curriculum development. (Author/JH)

The specific goal of language instruction at any level is to develop students' communicative abilities by increasing their awareness of necessary linguistic tools. The degree to which instructors in the English classroom are successful in attaining this specific goal is dependent on the ability of students to organize their experiences. College…

If teachers are to use the technique of small group work in their classrooms, students need to be prepared emotionally and cognitively for such a learning technique. In this article three phases are described which help students become more comfortable and more skilled in working in small groups. (Editor)

Discusses some ways teachers can better understand their students through interviewing on a one-to-one basis. (CS)

Discusses the function of mediators (cues designed to elicit an explicit cognition-mediated process that generates new sentences), criteria for their construction, and experiments in their use. (KM)

This paper presents a narrative account of how the process of discovery pertained to a college instructor's experience in teaching writing, offering it as a potential methodology for other teachers to consider in their own and their students' writing. The first two parts of the paper illustrate the process of primary and secondary invention in…

The "impulsive responder" is a learner who avoids or eliminates confusing situations. Rather than acknowledging that a given problem solving task is too difficult, the impulsive responder simply perceives a different task--one that he or she has learned to solve. For the teacher there may be many different problems, but for the impulsive…

Designed to provide an exchange of ideas about children's reading comprehension, this book has gathered insights and perspectives from both educators and psychologists concerning the comprehension process. The first section of the book consists of three chapters devoted to literature reviews, each dealing with an aspect of comprehension. Specific…

Based upon a theory of intelligence proposed by Alfred Binet, this paper describes a cognitive process approach to poetry instruction. After discussing the suitability of the study of poetry as a means of enhancing students' reading comprehension, the paper summarizes Binet's theory, which distinguishes four successive intellectual operations: (1)…

A reader's background knowledge (schemata) and purpose for reading have an overriding influence upon the reader's development of meaning. Reading comprehension also involves activating, focusing, maintaining, and refining ideas toward developing interpretations that are plausible, cohesive, and complete. Recent examinations of instructional…