The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation (STACI) Project is a multi-year research effort intended to examine the cognitive demands and consequences of learning from a systems thinking approach to instruction and from using simulation-modeling software. The purpose of the study is to test the potentials and effects of integrating the systems…

Recent theoretical developments in cognitive psychology imply both a need and a possibility for methodological development. In particular, the theory of problem solving proposed by Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon (1972) provides the rationale for a new empirical method for the processing of think-aloud protocols--trace analysis. A detailed…

The project described in this paper focuses on researching approaches to ease the student's transition from elementary to middle school. The method presented equips teachers with an eight-step strategy for helping students think through everyday decisions and stressful situations. The materials target situations that children face while…

Public relations as strategic communication is one possible theme for an introductory course in public relations. This perspective focuses attention on messages (their content, timing, media, and so forth) as strategic responses to the audience and the situation. It provides a defensible rationale for including certain relevant topics in the…

This short course is designed to help students define sexual harassment, recognize it as a form of discrimination, and learn to deal with it effectively. The course outlines five 40-minute sessions, each including objectives, appropriate exercises, student worksheets, and transparency masters. Unit titles are: The Road to Awareness--Definitions;…

Analogy is widely considered to be an important mechanism of scientific thinking and a source of creative insight in theory development. In this paper the implicit constraints that determine analogical soundness are considered. It first examines the constraints that govern analogical reasoning as it is predicted today. The scientific uses of…

A "modified essay examination" was used to help teach and to assess clinical problem-solving skills with 11 first trimester doctoral students. This examination provided a paper-and-pencil simulation of problems encountered in case management. Students were required to generate hypotheses, formulate questions, discuss issues, and make…

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…

This paper describes the various procedures associated with the individual interviews that are part of the data gathering processes of the Coordinated Study being carried out by the Mathematics Work Group of the Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Individualized Schooling. The first major section describes the six basic verbal addition…

A method of graphing multivariate data, called the star plot, is very useful in educational contexts because it provides teachers and guidance counselors with information not present in unsupplemented student achievement data. The utility of the method can be seen in analysis of data from a study of factors related to the problem-solving ability…

Thirty four-year-olds and 30 five-year-olds participated in a study of social influences on computer activity. During a first session children were individually pretested for general cognitive level and alphabet and number skills; during a second session they were given individual training on the computer; during third and fourth sessions half of…

This study explored student mathematical activity in open problem-solving situations, derived from the work of Polya on problem solving and Skemp on intelligent learning and teaching. Assignment projects with problems for ninth-grade students were developed, whether they elicit the desired cognitive and cogno-affective goals was investigated, and…

Although simulation is among the least common of the many methods consultants employ to stimulate team development, realistic simulation can help in the diagnosis of management teams. Simulations fill a gap in the repertoire of data collection methods for organizational diagnosis and development by affording an opportunity for direct observation…

Noting that the new literary and rhetorical theories are concerned with revealing the constructive nature of productive and interpretive processes, this paper examines the cognitive processes in reading and writing which make them constructive and intentional acts, and how reader and writer "negotiate" meaning in light of context, reader…

During the past decade, problem solving has become a major focus of the mathematics curriculum. Many feel that in this era of increasing technology, it is important for students to learn how to approach a problem situation. This book was designed to help teachers teach problem solving. Chapter 1, "An Introduction to Problem Solving," deals with…