Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) traditionally has been used in research concerning prospective and practicing classroom teachers. This essay argues that PCK is also relevant to other professions including those advancing quantitative reasoning (QR). To illustrate, the case of PCK for teaching QR is considered. Those in fields such as public…

It is commonly assumed that psychologists studying human reasoning may safely ignore the normative issue of rationality, and that philosophers may analyze rationality without reference to empirical research on actual human reasoning. Presenting five arguments against such a mutually exclusive dichotomy, this paper concludes that although empirical…

Major themes from the previous light articles on literacy, reasoning, and education are highlighted. Common inferences about the needs for organizational change, loosening of governmental rules and controls, and field-initiated research are described. The general exclusion of the affective domain from this discussions of higher order reasoning is…

Research by Labov dealing with everyday speech and its relation to thinking and reasoning is critiqued, and Cooper's detailed criticism of Labov's research is discussed. Researchers should pay attention to actual speech in settings that are natural, rather than using only quantitative abstractions from artificial and restricted verbal encounters.…

The effect of verbal contextual information on junior high school students' categorization of differences among photographic art was examined. Photographs of varying levels of abstraction were presented to the viewers both with and without correct and erroneous titles that referred to descriptive or interpretive information. Twelve students…

Examines the differences between concrete and abstract concepts and their implications for instructional design and teaching. How specific concepts are stored in and retrieved from memory is described, analogies are discussed as an instructional tool in abstract concept learning, and a possible instructional strategy for teaching abstract concepts…

Reviews various definitions of the concept of distance and suggests that basic notions regarding distance require directed learning. Identifies challenges regarding relative distance for geography researchers and teachers. (Author/DB)

Discussion of students' prior knowledge and its effect on analogical reasoning focuses on four case studies of high school and college students that were designed to determine factors important for success in overcoming misconceptions via analogical reasoning. Explanatory models are explained, and abstract transfer versus explanatory model…

Offers a theoretical account of moral rationality within a rational constructivist paradigm examining the nature and relationship of rationality and reasoning. Suggests progressive changes through developmental levels of moral rationality. Proposes a developmental moral epistemology that accommodates moral pluralism to a greater degree than does…

Suggests that constructivist rationality may be more pervasive across cultures than Moshman commits to. Proposes that rationality is not always adequate, and there is a need for essentially moral labor, such as differentiating moral from nonmoral or analyzing differing moral constructs and their potential coexistence, coordination, and structural…

The research and development of mental (standardized) testing and its relationship to educational practice is traced historically from its pre-World War I roots to its controversial national prominence in the 1970s. How standardized tests have been used in research and in schools is analyzed. (BS)

To enhance the study of abstract knowledge and to make it a central concern in the study of cognition, and to explore the nature of abstractions and the function of abstraction, the seven chapters in this special issue formulate researchable hypotheses, propose working hypotheses, identify major phenomena, and outline possible educational…

Three research areas relevant to the relationship between writing and reasoning are reviewed: (1) cultural consequences of written language, including changes in reasoning ability; (2) individual consequences of particular writing experiences; and (3) the status of writing activities in American schools. Further research is needed to establish how…

The document contains a paper on the cognitive-decision approach to moral/citizenship education and three critiques of the paper. The major paper characterizes cognitive decisionists, describes strengths and weaknesses of their approach, and assesses the extent to which empirical knowledge is available for the approach. Cognitive decisionists…