Ideas concerning reflection in general, the role of reflection in cognitive apprenticeship, and reflection in action are discussed. The notion of reflection in a particular setting is presented for two cases: the professional education and training of physicians, and a teaching improvement program in which a teacher-teacher coach facilitates the…

A dangerously simplistic reductionistic movement, with a stress on the teacher as a technician, operating increasingly in a mechanistic way, is evolving in teacher preparation programs. This paper is constructed in light of the distorted consciousness likely to be acquired by prospective teachers as a result of this constraining movement. It has…

This study identified students' conceptual difficulties in understanding concepts and processes associated with cell water relationships (osmosis), determined possible reasons for these difficulties, and pilot-tested instruments and research strategies for a large scale comprehensive study. Research strategies used included content analysis of…

Reviewed are findings on misconceptions in mechanics and their instructional implications. Many misconceptions are widespread and resistant to change but students have useful intuitions and reasoning processes that could be used more fully. One strategy for dealing with misconceptions is described. It stresses anchoring intuitions, analogical…

This paper examines the area of teachers' practical arguments (arugments consisting in the search for a plan of action), considering questions such as: How does rationality manifest itself in practice, and in specific human practices like teaching? Is practical reasoning in teaching moral? Do values of theoretical reasoning, such as universality,…

This document is intended to improve the critical viewing skills and increase the understanding and appreciation of what is viewed. Included are the chapters: (1) "Critical Thinking: The Parts of an Argument," intended to develop a process to help a person judge arguments in what is read, seen, and heard; (2) "Critical Viewing:…

During a 5-month period, an attempt was made to describe the literacy concepts of 12 children 5 years of age who attended a prekindergarten program rich in oral language experiences. Assessments were made in the classroom of the children's concepts of print, phoneme awareness, logo recognition, reading, and writing, through use of (1) the…

Described is a computer tutor designed to help students gain a qualitative understanding of important physics concepts. The tutor simulates a teaching strategy called "bridging analogies" that previous research has demonstrated to be successful in one-on-one tutoring and written explanation studies. The strategy is designed to remedy…

Noting that social interaction theory has long been characterized by a plethora of divergent research studies in search of an organizing paradigm, and that a common failing of most social interaction research has been its focus on process or change in relationships, the first part of this paper specifies the major limiting, or boundary, conditions…

A multitrait-multimethod design provided the basis for variable selection and analysis on the nature of cognitive impulsivity in natural classroom settings. Observational measures were developed for field dependence-independence, as well as for low- and high conceptual level to determine their ecological validity. They were designed to form an…

Techniques developed to address the reading problems of an adult English as a second language (ESL) class are described. An intensive English course was developed for a group of Arabic-speaking vocational education administrators who had several years of English training. However, they performed poorly on the lowest level of a reading series.…

The linguistic form of a nonliteral expression, and the context in which it occurs, can greatly influence young children's succcess or failure in assigning a meaning to a figurative expression. Experiments have shown that the same metaphorical expression can be easier to understand when expressed in a linguistic form that is familiar to young…

Epistemological loneliness refers to the isolation adolescents may experience as the result of cognitive relativism, ushered in by the emergence of formal operational thought. To examine the relationship between cognitive relativity, epistemological loneliness, and depression in adolescence, 108 adolescents (29 seventh graders, 29 ninth graders,…

This publication contains resources and activities that can be used to help elementary and secondary students and adults develop a positive self-concept. There are two major parts. Part I is intended for the teacher. Self-concept development is discussed, and how self-concept is related to teaching and learning is examined. Guidelines for…

Using Chaim Perelman's concept of the "universal audience" as a method of analysis, an investigation was made into the images of equality under the law in two landmark Supreme Court rulings on segregation, "Plessy v. Ferguson" and "Brown v. Board of Education." The analysis revealed that the Supreme Court in both…