This book provides the teacher with a framework for assessing children's potential to learn, taking into account cognitive skills, specifically similarity thinking skills, as well as the emotional status of children, particularly the development of independent security. Complex ideas are introduced through the use of case studies and anecdotes.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the thinking underlying the questions posed by a science teacher to her seventh grade students in an instructional activity called Mind Games, in which hypothetical situations focussed on scientific issues are proposed and explored at least once during each major instructional unit. Mind games are conveyed…

An attempt was made to increase Swedish preschool children's understanding of aspects of commercial enterprise, particularly those of "the shop," by introducing a specific didactic approach to preschool education. Of particular interest were two aspects of the shop: advertising and the principle of trade. A total of 77 children up to 7 years of…

This report presents a general framework for studying the acquisition and cognitive representation of biomedical concepts and analyzing the nature and development of misconceptions. The central approach of the report is a selective and highly concentrated analysis of the true nature of clusters of complex concepts and the manner in which they are…

Argumentation courses, which emphasize the theories of argumentation, and debate courses, which teach competitive debate, can effectively teach critical thinking, training students to see situations from a variety of perspectives and then to evaluate those perspectives for their relative merit. William G. Perry maps out nine stages by which…

The testing effect is a phenomenon that may be described as follows: following the reading of a prose passage, a group of students who are given a posttest on the passage immediately or shortly afterward will later recall more of the passage on a retention test than will a similar group of students who are not given the posttest. Testing as a…

The nature of classroom activities, cognitive learning opportunities, and instruction in seventh and eighth grades within the academic subject areas was examined. The purpose was to describe and interpret classroom learning opportunities in terms compatible with the complexity of typical classroom events and teachers' understanding of those…

Suggestions are presented for planning, presenting, and following up workshops for teachers who are learning to use a microcomputer in their classroom. The following points are made: (1) Teachers should be involved in planning the workshop; (2) Hands-on demonstrations of computer use with students in the presence of teachers should be conducted…

A computerized delivery system in consumer economics developed at the University of Delaware uses the PLATO system to provide a basis for analyzing consumer behavior in the marketplace. The 16 sequential lessons, part of the Consumer in the Marketplace Series (CMS), demonstrate consumer economic theory in layman's terms and are structured to focus…

A study of learner modality in second language learning conducted at a small, private liberal arts university had as subjects 20 freshmen in a second-semester Spanish course. The students' modality strength (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or mixed) was correlated with Scholastic Aptitude Test measures, grades, and gender. The findings support…

Provided for teachers of learning disabled elementary school students are 14 questions to be considered for selection of the best remedial technique for a diagnosed learning problem, and given to illustrate technique modification are three case studies. (MC)

Teaching and learning, especially in higher education, appear to consist of complex analytic and synthetic processes which create concepts and relate them to one another. Sixteen model courses from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities were examined to establish some general characteristics of university course…

A 3-MONTH STATUS REPORT WAS MADE ON THE ACTIVITIES PURSUED IN PHASE 1 OF A LARGER 10-YEAR PROJECT DEALING WITH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN TRANSFER OF TRAINING. REPORTS OF ONGOING PROJECTS AND THEIR CURRENT STATUS WERE PRESENTED. THEY INCLUDED (1) A STUDY OF THE TRANSFER EFFECTS OF WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS TO TASK PERFORMANCE…

Understanding ideas, drawing inferences, and recognizing the author's organization and purpose are teachable comprehension skills. Prereading discussions can stimulate students to think before reading, to survey the material, and to raise questions which focus attention while reading. A study guide can develop comprehension through careful…

Questions relating to decision making and its relatonship to body coordination and self-concept in the elementary school child are investigated in this study. The independent variable of teacher behavior was manipulated in order to provide two related learning environments. One, termed Vertical Teaching, required the teacher to retain all of the…