Inquiry-based learning is one approach to improving the quality of undergraduate education by moving toward more student-directed, interactive methods of learning while focusing on learning how to learn. This paper deals with a missing component in the inquiry-related literature--the extra-pedagogical challenges of introducing and maintaining…

Bringing together all four books in the AS CD ground-breaking Habits of Mind series, this volume presents a compelling case for why it's more relevant than ever to align the missions of schools and classrooms to teaching students how to think and behave intelligently when they encounter problems and challenges in learning and in life. Drawing on…

Literacy has become much more than just the ability to read: recent literature related to literacy instruction suggests that an essential goal is to develop in students the ability to think deeply about what they read and to express themselves accurately and expressively in all contexts. There is a growing acceptance of the importance of lifelong…

Programs to teach students critical thinking must empower them to be self-directed, but they must also stress respect and empathy for the viewpoints of others. (Author/TE)

Thinking tools bring sound instructional theory into the classroom in a practical form that students and teachers both enjoy using. Six such tools are described that have the general characteristics of psychological validity, concreteness, relevance to teachers, and differentiation by type of learning. (TE)

Suggests basic principles to guide the construction of an integrated sequential guide for thinking skills instruction throughout the K-12 curriculum. Strategies emphasize introducing and reinforcing cognitive operations such as information processing, problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. (TE)

Describes the use of Edward de Bono's CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) program in English classes during the past five years at Memorial Junior High School in Valley Stream, New York. CoRT tools were used to analyze literary characters and plot development and to generate and organize ideas for writing assignments. (TE)

With Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children program, middle school students and their teachers in the Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Area School District use dialectical reasoning strategies as they contemplate perennial questions. (Author/TE)

At Westover (Connecticut) Elementary Magnet School, a teacher training program called "Talents Unlimited" focuses on critical and creative thinking, invites children to become active learners, and enables teachers to function as facilitators of learning. (TE)

"Talents Unlimited," a research-based model for teaching thinking at the elementary level, has proven to be an effective model for the secondary level as well at schools in New Mexico, Arkansas, and Alabama. The program emphasizes strategies that help teachers integrate practice in thinking skills with academic content. (TE)

"Talents Unlimited," a program developed in Mobile (Alabama) County Public Schools in 1971, nurtures students' abilities in five talent areas as the foundation for academic proficiency: productive thinking, communication, forecasting, decision making, and planning. (TE)

Teachers in Howard County, Maryland, are finding that project IMPACT, a critical thinking skills curriculum originally designed for remedial junior high school students, can be successfully adapted for elementary students also. (TE)

Tactics for Thinking is a comprehensive staff development program that can be adapted to specific curriculum needs in local districts. San Diego County (California) is training teachers in three categories of cognitive strategies: learning to learn, content thinking skills, and reasoning skills. (TE)

Teachers in Cherry Creek, Colorado, have selected a variety of programs for teaching thinking, according to the needs of their students and their own interests. A thinking skills framework modeled after ASCD's Dimensions of Thinking (Marzano et al., 1988) is now being proposed. (TE)

Buncombe County (North Carolina) has launched a "Wednesday Revolution" that uses Socratic seminars based on Mortimer Adler's "Paideia Proposal" to develop students' critical thinking skills. (TE)