The Internet-Based Shared Environment for Expeditions (iExpeditions) is both a development effort of the Center for Technology Innovations in Education, University of Missouri, Columbia, and a research project conducted in partnership with Motorola, Inc. and a researcher at Brigham Young University (Utah). The project seeks to develop and…

The benefits of high-level mathematics packages such as Matlab include both a computer algebra system and the ability to provide students with concrete visual examples. This paper discusses how both capabilities of Matlab were used in a multivariate calculus class. Graphical user interfaces which display three-dimensional surfaces, contour plots,…

Research has shown that although university instructors of English as a Second Language are aware of the benefits that active learning can bring the student, teacher-centered, traditional lecture method classes are still the norm. Resistance to change is due in part to large class sizes, limited instruction hours, and the perception that proactive…

Self-efficacy is mediated by individuals' beliefs or expectations about their capacity to accomplish certain tasks successfully or demonstrate certain behaviors. When individuals have low self-efficacy expectations regarding their behavior, they limit the extent to which they participate in an endeavor and are more apt to give up at the first sign…

Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) began almost 40 years ago as the first national parent-training program to teach parents how to communicate more effectively with their children and to offer step-by-step advice to resolving family conflicts. This book, a revised and updated edition, presents the PET model for parent training, including the…

This paper explains the importance of disposition as an essential aspect of critical thinking and suggests how instruction can be designed to promote learners' development of the dispositional side of critical thinking. Topics addressed include: (1) the dispositional bottleneck between opportunity and action, i.e., sensitivity to occasion; (2)…

This report documents a program for improving science knowledge, attitudes, and higher order thinking skills through experiential science. The hands-on approach used successfully in the program is described, and evidence of student improvement is also presented. The targeted population consisted of students in the first, third, and fourth grades…

This study examines the Study Circles program on education that was conducted in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the fall of 1998. Study Circles are a community involvement strategy for collaborative problem solving. They are small, highly participatory groups led by trained facilitators using materials provided by the Study Circles Resource Center. The…

This article focuses on the cognitive development of community college students. According to the article, a student can develop higher levels of cognitive reasoning through curricular activities that include problem solving, analytic thinking, and synthesizing exercises. In problem solving, students first identify and define a problem, then…

With this inaugural edition of "Evidence for Education," NICHCY launches a new publication series exploring the best evidence-based practices education has to offer. "Strategy Instruction" is a powerful student-centered approach to teaching that is backed by years of quality research. In fact, strategic approaches to learning…

Scientific challenges are presented to motivate secondary and college students in creative thinking and scientific problem solving. Student solutions to the "Create-a-Creature" challenge are presented and six new challenges are issued. (PEB)

Social scientists need to cultivate awareness of values, their own and those embedded in research activities, and be responsive to the value system they encounter when doing organizational research. Discusses the sharing of ethical responsibility with organization members, elements of self-awareness and self-management, relationship management,…

Reports investigation of the first phase of problem solving, i.e., the awareness of mental operations, which uses cognitive process instruction to focus student attention on their thinking processes. Evaluation of students' ability to recall componential operations involved in familiar tasks indicates improvement in problem solving is an…

Reviews recent research on problem solving, summarizing differences between problem-solving styles of novices and experts. Also describes a text by Daniel Solow ("How to Read and Do Proofs"). Includes chapter titles for the text useful for students who wish to improve their understanding of mathematical reasoning. (JM)

Describes a course designed to expose neophytes to methodology used in chemical process industries to evaluate commercial feasibility of proposed projects. Previously acquired disciplines are integrated to facilitate process synthesis, gain appreciation of nature of industrial projects and industrial viewpoint in managing them, and to become adept…