Educational practice does not, for the most part, rely on research findings. Instead, there's a preference for relying on our intuitions about what's best for learning. But relying on intuition may be a bad idea for teachers and learners alike. This accessible guide helps teachers to integrate effective, research-backed strategies for learning…

A discussion is presented of the value and benefits of using questions in the classroom that will develop the critical thinking abilities of students. Some of the benefits of employing questions in classroom teaching are related to the affective domain, being psychological in nature, some are evaluative in that they provide clues to the extent of…

Describes how to gain optimal learning in the classroom by activating different parts of the brain. Neural systems fatigue very quickly and need to rest. Only a few minutes of factual lecture can be tolerated before the brain seeks other stimuli. The most effective presentation must move back and forth through interrelated neural systems, weaving…

A variety of memory strategies can be used to retrain an individual's ability to process information in working memory. This article provides step-by-step instructions for various memory encoding strategies. These strategies include training in perceptual grouping of number series, organization, mediation, mental imagery, and associative memory.…

The CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) is a five-step program in direct instruction of thinking skills which increase the number and diversity of ideas as well as help the individual establish goals, set priorities, improve interactions with others, and incorporate feeling into thinking. (DB)

Two guiding principles for classroom management and instruction that emerge out of current knowledge about attention mechanisms and processes are that teachers should adapt their instruction to their students' stable attention mechanisms and that teachers should use imaginative teaching and management strategies to help students enhance their…

Thirteen content-area teachers of mildly disabled adolescents rated six cognitive strategy-based adaptive teaching procedures for facilitating content mastery. The teachers rated the strategies' familiarity, value, use, assistance needed to routinely implement, and reasonableness of being expected to implement. The teachers highly valued and…

"Thinking Connections" is a thinking strategy program that teaches critical and creative thinking within the context of the regular curriculum. The main focus is helping students think to learn. Other results of this program are to develop positive attitudes, the ability to think an activity through to its conclusion, and to understand…

This book describes strategies, techniques, and principles that teachers can use to improve students' thinking skills. The strategies can generally be adaptated for any grade level or subject area. Chapters provide information on: (1) a rationale for the teaching of thinking; (2) thinking and thinking skills; (3) selecting and defining thinking…

Uses the Socratic method as a point of departure and suggests steps that teachers can take to teach students how to formulate their own questions for better comprehension ability. (JK)

Argues that comprehension-monitoring strategies (e.g., establishing learning goals, assessing the degree of goal achievement, and modifying strategies to better meet goals) enhances student success. Describes an experimental course for teaching these learning strategies, the training and instructional methods used, key variables in the…

Intended to assist teachers in evaluation of specific learning strategies for learning disabled students, the article summarizes 14 metacognitive strategies (sets of steps used by the student to talk his or her way through a problem) based on principles of rehearsal, transformation, organization, mnemonics, monitoring, motivation, and…

Describes Noel Entwhistle's book "Styles of Learning and Teaching," detailing how it can be used to help students learn and store knowledge. Also describes a course on the theory and practice of cognitive processes taught at Carnegie Mellon University. (DH)

Discusses learning modalities and learning styles in science education. Learning modalities characterize the way the brain takes in information (input) and restructures/expresses the information (output). Learning styles are ways that information is processed once it is obtained. Examples (including Kolb's "Learning-Style Inventory") are included.…

A literature-based model of good information processing is sketched describing how metacognitive knowledge influences strategy selection and use. Three problems for learning-disabled students in using study strategies productively are discussed: neurological impairments; deficiencies in general world knowledge; and negative beliefs, attitudes, and…