This paper describes a plan to improve school effectiveness in the Tulsa (Oklahoma) Public Schools by incorporating instruction in thinking skills. The program selected by the school district was the Strategic Reasoning Program, based on Albert Upton's Design for Thinking and J. P. Guilford's Structure of the Intellect. The Strategic Reasoning…

The paper explains why outdoor adventure education programs have been successful in enhancing the self-esteem of special needs students. Such an approach features physically or psychologically demanding outdoor pursuits to provide meaningful challenges through self-discovery and personal growth. Ways in which the program fosters five prerequisites…

This combination methods and resource book is written for preservice and inservice teachers of mathematics in the elementary school. It presents a program based on the research of the learning theories of Piaget, Brownell, Deines, Skemp, and Gagne and on successful classroom practices. The 14 chapters deal with: (1) "Mathematics in the Elementary…

This study used knowledge derived from classroom-based research on teaching and laboratory-based research on children's learning to improve teachers' classroom instruction and students' achievement. Twenty first-grade teachers, assigned randomly to an experimental treatment, participated in a month-long workshop in which they studied findings on…

The manual presents the framework of the Student Support Team (SST), an approach involving two or more professionals who develop alternative instructional strategies for students in lieu of special education placement. General considerations are offered for classroom management, curriculum adaptations, and adaptations for the visually and hearing…

This yearbook for teachers of mathematics in grades 5-9 contains three sections: (1) critical issues; (2) learning activities; and (3) games, contests, and student presentations. The first section includes articles on sex-related differences, learning disabled students, computer literacy, mental arithmetic, rational numbers, and problem solving.…

The inabilitiy of the traditional education system to pay attention to the individual needs of students has been a central obstacle to effective education since the demand for universal education first led to the formation of rigidly-structured, large schools and classrooms. Use of computers now removes the need to teach all students the same…

This is a guide for use in semester-long courses in Elementary Functions and Analytic Geometry. A list of entry-level skills and a list of approved textbooks is provided. Each of the 18 units consists of: (1) overview, suggestions for teachers, and suggested time; (2) list of objectives; (3) cross-references guide to approved textbooks; (4) sample…

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…

Focusing on the impact on the instructor of the experience of preparing and using guided design modules, this conference paper highlights some of the positive outcomes of this instructional approach; the presentation of an educational psychology course module via an Apple IIe microcomputer is used as an illustration of the process. It is argued…

Historically, technology educators have chosen the creation of products or projects as a means to teach technological concepts. Although it is true that technology is most commonly known by its products, in most educational situations technology is best described as a process. This paper describes a technology education course that promotes…

This guide provides material for teaching problems with rate and ratio calculations. There has been a traditional and worsening shortfall of student performance on rate and ratio problems which do not apply to other components of the mathematics program. The major problems found with traditional curriculum approaches are: (1) rate and ratio…

This paper studies the difficulties children have solving word problems that correspond to one of the situations modeled by multiplication; that of a ratio (e.g. "candies per box"), multiplied by an extensive quantity (e.g. "boxes") (I x E). Sixty children were individually observed solving and repeating I x E problems. Various…

Instructional techniques are outlined, as utilized in a remedial algebra course offered at the Community College of Allegheny County. The paper first provides background information concerning the college, the characteristics of its students, the content of the remedial course, and the testing procedures used to place students in the course. The…

This collection of activities shows how teachers can help pupils develop problem-solving techniques or strategies using a basic four-function calculator. The techniques "look for a pattern,""make a chart or organized list," and "guess and check" are used repeatedly in activities that range from discovery to application to strategy games. The…