This report contains a description of the conceptual background and methodology for a study concerning how academic tasks are managed in senior high school classrooms. This high school study is Phase 2 of the Managing Academic Tasks (MAT) study. The MAT study is focused on understanding how curriculum experiences are shaped by the classroom…

The Maryland Center for Thinking Studies, established at Coppin State College in July 1988, and presented in this report, provides training and resources in the teaching of thinking and fosters research in thinking improvement. When fully operational, the Center will assimilate and contribute to research in cognitive instruction, disseminate the…

A study examined the cognitive development of at-risk students (those who have experienced difficulty or failure in their careers as learners), focusing on such groups as potential drop-outs, minority children, and disabled students (dsylexic or non-English speaking), as well as teaching thinking to this same student population. Although research…

This study is an attempt to identify social interactions which fit into a Piagetian model for cognitive change, and specifically to examine the degree to which the frequency of those interactions predicts the rate of cognitive development. The subjects were 74 elementary school children enrolled in 19 K-4 classrooms. These children were in the…

This check list provides a method for observing and recording the development of children aged 1 to 6 and handicapped children in six categories of skills: gross motor development, fine motor development, social, self help, cognitive, and language. The scoring system is designed to provide information on the rate of development in each category;…

This manual describes the Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP), a check list, and tells how it is administered, scored, and used to evaluate children's skill development and rate of development. The items were drawn from a number of well-known assessment tools, and measure skills appropriate for normal children aged 1-6 and handicapped children.…

Recent investigations have demonstrated greater variance in change in intellectual performance between different generations or age groups than is true for generalized developmental change across chronological age. Such findings have led to a careful investigation of certain environmental factors which might account for such change. A new…

A project was conducted to develop materials that could be utilized by teachers for informal assessment of the needs of students in vocational programs. Sixteen modules were developed to help teachers identify some of the areas in which students have special learning needs, clarify various levels of abilities, and distinguish the different…

This basic vocational related skills assessment module in welding is one of sixteen modules designed to help teachers assess and identify some of the areas in which special needs students may encounter learning difficulties. The materials in the module allow for informal assessment in three basic areas: academic skills, motor skills, and…

This basic vocational related skills assessment module in woodworking is one of sixteen modules designed to help teachers assess and identify some of the areas in which special needs students may encounter learning difficulties. The materials in the module allow for informal assessment in three basic areas: academic skills, motor skills, and…

This basic vocational related skills assessment module in horticulture is one of sixteen modules designed to help teachers assess and identify some of the areas in which special needs students may encounter learning difficulties. The materials in the module allow for informal assessment in three basic areas: academic skills, motor skills, and…

This basic vocational related skills assessment module in electricity is one of sixteen modules designed to help teachers assess and identify some of the areas in which special needs students may encounter learning difficulties. The materials in the module allow for informal assessment in three basic areas: academic skills, motor skills, and…

Drawn largely from the experiences of Bloomfield College (Illinois) with its Freshman Core Program, but citing other efforts to develop thinking skills as well, this essay considers several questions and issues concerning the cognitive skills approach to teaching. The paper begins by identifying some of the increasingly common learning problems…

This basic vocational related skills assessment module in drafting is one of sixteen modules designed to help teachers assess and identify some of the areas in which special needs students may encounter learning difficulties. The materials in the module allow for informal assessment in three basic areas: academic skills, motor skills, and…

Ninety subjects completed identical simulated maintenance tasks under two experimental conditions. In the high job structural attribute condition subjects were told that the task was high in learning new skills, responsibility, feedback, and task identity; while in the low job structural condition they were told the opposite. Results indicated the…