This research was based on the assumption that the teaching of broadly generalizable cognitive skills should be a primary goal of education--that students can be taught to be better insight problem solvers outside of school by training in school and that they can be given the skills necessary for efficient discovery learning. The subjects were 116…

The theoretical framework for investigating human planning behavior and the procedures, results, and implications of two experiments involving planning in the domain of software design are presented in this report. A plan is defined as a hierarchical structure that underlies the solution to a problem; planning is the process of constructing this…

Third grade subjects were classified as impulsive or reflective on the basis of the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test. In Experiment I, subjects were given either convergent thinking tasks, brainstorming tasks, or a control task. In Experiment II, half of the subjects received difficult tasks intended to induce failure while the other half…

Observing that available standardized tests purporting to measure problem solving in mathematics do not validly reflect currently accepted definitions of problem solving, while more valid individualized measures are costly in terms of time, this researcher undertook (1) to construct a paper-and-pencil instrument which might better reflect…

Three experiments (which used adults and 14-year-old children) studied the congruence between textual input at encoding and output in the form of memory reproductions. Results verified a very close correspondence between encoding and retrieval regarding hierarchically structural operations on the information in simple stories. (AN)

In this study the researcher investigated the feasibility of constructing a valid paper-and-pencil measure of problem solving ability. (Rationale and design of the study are discussed in Part 1.) The principal feasibility criterion, correlation of at least .71 with scores on taped and coded individual "thinking aloud" problem-solving…

Presents research on cognitive skills demanded by elementary and secondary school mathematics textbooks, based on an original 10-level classification of thinking activities; reports a general decline both in the amount of material demanding student involvement and in the percentage of that material requiring higher-order thinking. (MCG)

This study employed a 2x2 (Generative Activities by Navigational Activities) post-test only research design in examining learning while using a hypertext system in a linear, navigational, linear generative, or navigational generative format. Participants were 43 undergraduate students. In the first experiment, participants were assigned to one of…

This document explores some aspects of Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) in the area of elementary mathematics teaching methods. The essential and distinguishing features of CBTE are examined. The following topics are discussed in detail: (1) how competencies may be identified; (2) the effects of a competency orientation on methods…

This paper investigates how people acquire knowledge from maps. Emphasis is placed on heuristics--defined as the procedures that people use to select, combine, and encode map information in memory. The objective is to develop a theory of expertise in map learning by analyzing differences between fast and slow learners in terms of differences in…

Presented is an overview of the 1979 Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP) for eleventh-grade mathematics. The IIEP is a systematic effort by the Illinois State Board of Education to collect information on the educational achievement of Illinois students in certain areas and to make that information available to educational…

According to the ACT theory of skill acquisition, cognitive skills are encoded by a set of productions, which are organized according to a hierarchical goal structure. People solve problems in new domains by applying weak problem-solving procedures to declarative knowledge they have about this domain. From these initial problem solutions,…

A conceptual model is presented for the development of thinking skills by using an instructional model employing high level cognitive demands. "Distancing" is proposed as the concept to denote behaviors or events that separate the child cognitively from the immediate behavioral environment. Forms and functions of distancing behavior are…

Directed at the inquiring practitioner, this paper defines the Outward Bound (OB) process; presents a summarial schema of that process; and provides examples of process application. The OB process definition encompasses the following: the learner must demonstrate motivational readiness (appropriate manifestations of willingness and ability to…

Alverno College began its outcome-oriented liberal arts curriculum in the fall of 1973. Clearly traceable to Alverno's early heritage as a teachers' college for educating the sisters of a teaching order is the current liberal arts college's interest in the incoming student's orientation to college learning. Each section of this report briefly…