A major goal of mathematics teaching is the involvement of students in the personal process of discovering mathematical ideas and formulating problems. The process of an inductive leap followed by a deductive argument is used in mathematics courses at Phillips Exeter Academy (New Hampshire). Mathematical problems are presented in which the givens…

This booklet introduces elementary school teachers to the methodology, climate, aims, and objectives necessary for the teaching of philosophical thinking to grade schoolers. The methodology casts the teacher as a facilitator whose primary task is stimulating children to reason about their own problems. The discussion process with hints and guides…

Effective intervention strategies for learning disabled students should recognize such cognitive deficiencies as weaknesses in attention, memory deficits, and problems in generalizing and abstracting information. Approaches which emphasize enhanced learning processes include: self-monitoring; repetition and deliberate instruction in control…

Describes a schema-theoretic view of how analogies enhance students' prior knowledge; reviews some of the recent studies using analogies to assist students' comprehension of science text; and illustrates the use of an analogical study guide in biology. (HOD)

This paper asserts that any intellectually responsible program to instruct young children in math, science, and technology must overcome at least three seemingly insurmountable obstacles: (1) adults' inability to discover, either by reflection or analysis, the means by which children acquire science and technology concepts; (2) the fact that young…

This article describes methods for teaching higher level thinking skills to children. A four-step teaching plan utilizing Beyer's Taxonomy of thinking skills provides a sequential technique for teaching these skills as do increased verbal interaction, skillful questioning, and use of knowledge organizers. The I PLAN strategy can aid decision…

Describes an exercise that combines outlined strategies to help students master the abstruse power of the linguistic relativity hypotheses in divining the relationship among language, thought, and culture in U.S. society. States the exercise accomplishes three important pedagogical tasks and that educator interaction with students motivates the…

Recent research literature has highlighted the interest of both teachers and researchers in using analogies to aid students' conceptual understanding. This appears to be especially relevant in secondary chemistry education due to the many abstract concepts that are included in the curricula. This paper reviews recent literature and considers…

An attempt is made to synthesize the diverse perspectives on the teaching of thinking, especially in the area of social studies. A conception is developed that incorporates major theoretical orientations as well as the views of teachers. The conception emphasizes interpretation, analysis, and manipulation of information to solve problems that…

An analysis of informal reasoning and examination of teaching practices looks at ways to improve reasoning skills in college students. Teaching students to reason more effectively is an important but difficult goal of higher education. Reasoning consists of complex skills which must be taught. Effective instruction is based on two key features:…

This booklet contains proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the University/Urban Schools National Task Force. The conference was held to present information about four programs designed to help high school students to sharpen their reasoning skills. Criteria for program development state that: (1) the program can be taught to teachers in a…

The contributions of psychology, theoretically and experimentally, to university teaching are examined from the perspective of educational epistemology. The most basic theoretical contribution that psychology has made to cognitive learning has been the delineation of a unit of thinking, the concept, which acts as an organizer of experience. The…

Research has indicated that one significant deficiency in the intellectual capabilities of disadvantaged children is a disability in abstract thinking. Although all very young children lack this ability, the environment of the middle class child provides an opportunity so that as this child matures, the ability to think in abstract terms naturally…

Thinking skills in children, effectively developed through reading, were emphasized at this reading conference. Three types of thinking skills linked to reading are: decoding symbols from the printed page, seeking factual meaning through recall; reading interpretively, understanding cause and effect reasoning or seeking the main idea of sentences;…

One of the major goals of the social studies is to help students gain and refine skills in the area of value clarification. Value sheets, carefully planned activities designed to elicit value clarifying patterns of language from students, are one way of securing value clarification. Sheets, planned in conjunction with ongoing units of instruction,…