"The School Administrator" interviewed three experts concerning the status of the critical thinking movement. Robert Schwartz advocates student learning in a problem-solving context. E.D. Hirsch sees no conflict between critical thinking and cultural literacy concepts. Matthew Lipman promotes critical thinking by encouraging children to…

Discusses the importance of error as a mode of learning in the classroom. Argues that when children are not afraid of making errors, they are more likely than otherwise to take cognitive risks and raise provocative questions. (RJC)

The effects of interest on the allocation of attention to, and the learning of, written material were investigated, using 23 undergraduates. Results indicate that interesting sentences were learned better, but they were allocated less attention. Students used some strategy other than attention to learn interesting material. (TJH)

As codirector of Harvard University's Project Zero, David Perkins has conducted long-term research programs on creativity, problem solving and reasoning, and learning in the arts, sciences, and everyday life. He explains a new program designed to help teachers connect thinking strategies with subject matter, so that students can better manage…

When teachers promote rote memorization as a single strategy, they foster only limited, short-term information retention. Elaboration strategies (creating analogies, paraphrasing, and summarizing) are stressed by the Cognitive Learning Strategies Project at the University of Texas. Includes three references. (MLH)

Two experiments concerning the effects of humor on learning in higher education are presented. The first experiment involved 161 Israeli college students; the second involved 132 Israeli college students. Groups taught with the aid of humor performed significantly better on examinations than did those taught without humor. (TJH)

Describes three alternatives to the student research report: (1) collaborative research; (2) Ken Macrorie's "I-Search"; and (3) the saturation report. Notes that all three activities are concerned with integrating inquiry, learning, and writing. (MM)

Discusses the theory of self-efficacy, the ways in which young children learn self-care and self-efficacy, and methods parents and other caregivers can use to encourage self-efficacy in young children. (RJC)

Argues that educators have the intent and the means to develop students who can reason and reflect across all content areas. Outlines three principles involved in teaching critical thinking. (RS)

The study examined the relationship between proximity of critical textual information and selected metacognitive behaviors of 29 elementary-age subjects. Subjects receiving collapsed versions of passages reported use of higher percentages of text-based strategies, whereas over 50 percent of the responses of subjects receiving the dispersed text…

The investigation of cognitive factors responsible for the arithmetic learning problems of fifth graders found that children with arithmetic learning problems were characterized by very slow operation execution. No support was found for theories that inefficient number encoding or inappropriate strategies are characteristic of this population.…

Used an open-ended response survey to elicit first-year physics student's ideas on the nature of physics and how to study it. Describes the categories that were identified by a phenomenographic methodology and discusses the distribution of responses across the categories. Discusses issues that emerged and implications for the practice of teaching…

Presents a comprehensive synthesis of research on learning strategies, focusing on the practical use of these strategies in CAI (computer-assisted instruction) design; identifies 13 of the most researched learning strategies and suggests ways to incorporate them into CAI design; and discusses future research topics. (Contains 63 references.) (LRW)

After training in the Strategies Intervention Model, 27 correctional educators found that word decoding was successful with youth offenders, goal setting less effective. Paraphrasing and test taking were inconclusive. Academic teachers had greater success than vocational teachers, who suggested that job analysis would help determine the most…

Investigated learning style changes of college business students over their college careers. Undergraduate business students (n=178) from two universities completed 1985 Learning Style Inventory in fall semesters of their sophomore, junior, and senior years. Results offered mixed support for contention that learning styles are likely to change…