This report describes the yearlong case study based on participant observation at a school which used ThinkAbout, a series of 60 15-minute instructional television programs designed to strengthen the reasoning skills of fifth and sixth graders, and to review and reinforce language arts, mathematics, and study skills. Discussion covers the patterns…

This publication provides information and detailed and specific answers to all parties involved in developing successful advisory committees--educators, business, industry, and labor. The first section of the manual discusses types of advisory committees, their authority, and functions. In the second section, establishment of occupational advisory…

Papers from three annual conferences of the Research Council for Diagnostic and Prescriptive Mathematics are presented. They are: "The Mathematics Clinic Model: Parents as Clinicians and their Effect on Achievement, Attitude, and Self-Concept" (Lee Wise and Janet Scheer); "Heterogeneous versus Homogeneous Item Arrangements in…

Museum objects can be the springboard for exercising critical thinking. There are four main thought processes associated with critical thinking: (1) fluent thinking, the ability to produce many ideas; (2) flexible thinking, the ability to view something in different ways; (3) original thinking, the ability to produce unique ideas; and (4)…

Designed to focus on student learning and to illustrate techniques that might be used with computers to facilitate that process, this paper discusses five types of computer use in educational settings: (1) learning ABOUT computers; (2) learning WITH computers; (3) learning FROM computers; (4) learning ABOUT THINKING with computers; and (5)…

This 10-part resource book contains 54 articles which address topics related to helping students become effective thinkers. The articles are organized under these categories: (1) the need to teach students to think; (2) creating school conditions for thinking; (3) definitions of thinking (including goals for a critical thinking curriculum); (4) a…

In this survey, an attempt is made to summarize the perspective on so-called 'misconceptions' research of those whose work in this field has not been guided by learning theory. Following the terminology of Driver and Erickson (1983), this research is called 'problem-oriented' in this paper. Its epistemological assumptions and assumptions about…

Based on a project concerned with studying invention across the curriculum, this paper discusses an across-the-curriculum writing program that encourages students to take control of what they are studying, contributing to what is known rather than being passively filled by it. The paper (1) challenges the current notion that creative behavior is a…

This study investigated whether secondary school students of varied backgrounds, enrolled at a private school developed for the purpose of integrating computers into all aspects of the curriculum and cultivating self-motivated learners, impose their existing motivational sets on computer programming, and whether instructional settings and…

This study compared the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) and traditional instructional approaches in developing high-school students' macroeconomics knowledge and examined whether PBL was differentially effective with students demonstrating different levels of four aptitudes: verbal ability, interest in economics, preference for group…

This study investigated the problem-solving effectiveness of family units, in order to account for social class differences in problem-solving ability. Basil Bernstein's theory concerning the role of speech styles in perception and information processing formed the basis for investigation; family speech styles, leadership patterns, and role…

In the course of carrying out the technical tasks of the school, teachers encounter common problems that do not impose on those in managerial roles. School organizations are typically structured in such a way as to prevent the information sharing and processing necessary to confront these problems. A collective decision-making structure for…

Twenty-one competency based instructional units are included in this solid-state electrical controls curriculum which is designed to upgrade the skills of coal mine electricians who work with mining equipment that has solid-state electrical controls. Each unit contains one or more student competency sheets with necessary attachments or handouts,…

Administrators are forced to deal simultaneously with a problem and its solution, creating a situation that prevents logical efforts toward analyzing problems and investigating alternative solutions. School districts often have difficulty in mobilizing appropriate resources to solve a problem. Administrative staff members must assume…

Social studies educators must marshal all creative resources to meet the global, national, and personal challenges that face them as members of the major social studies professional organization, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Based on a continuation of current policies and lifestyles, dramatic global changes such as…