Problem solving requires the application of critical reading and thinking skills and the use of relevant strategies to reach a solution. Independent learners are able to apply taught strategies across contexts and often complete challenging tasks unassisted. The purpose of this paper is to explain how a process of analysis of assignments and…

This article proposes an interconnected framework, "Ways of thinking in STEM-based Problem Solving," which addresses cognitive processes that facilitate learning, problem solving, and interdisciplinary concept development. The framework comprises critical thinking, incorporating critical mathematical modelling and philosophical inquiry,…

This study documented the phenomenology of critical thinking as an outcome in institutions of higher education in Indiana. Applying a collective case study design, the study interviewed educators in three institutions of higher learning and reviewed the public documentation to contextualize critical thinking as an educational outcome in each case.…

We investigated how learning outcomes of students majoring in interdisciplinary fields differ from those of students in discipline-based majors. We found that students in interdisciplinary majors report less change in Critical Thinking and Need For Cognition than their peers in disciplinary majors, but no difference in change in Positive Attitude…

Purpose: This paper aims to argue that substantive changes are required in both curricula and pedagogical practice in higher education institutions to challenge dominant epistemologies and discourses and to unsettle current ways of thinking about, and acting in relation to, the environment. Central to such a shift, it is argued, is the need for…

Students in fitness and wellness classes who understand how to implement intellectual thought processes will be better prepared to make good decisions regarding their own fitness and wellness. Teachers are encouraged to teach students to recognize when they are employing intellectual thought processes or whether they are using psychological…

In an ever changing society of the 21st century, there is a demand to equip students with meta competences going beyond cognitive knowledge. Education, therefore, needs a transition from transferring knowledge to developing individual potentials with the help of constructivist learning. Advantages of constructivist learning, and criteria for its…

As part of a campus-wide, externally funded project to increase performance in, enthusiasm for, and retention within STEM disciplines, we developed an interdisciplinary, team-taught first-year seminar course. The construction and delivery of this course was designed to show the relevance of selected general chemistry topics such as matter and…

Most college students do not habitually do the deep thinking that will allow them to take their learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge. This paper examines the findings from a phenomenological study of eight students involved in an interdisciplinary community focused on developing responsible, life-long learners. Students identified both the…

Higher order thinking is active and sustained cognitive effort directed at solving a complex problem and requires a student to integrate different sources of information, consider alternative perspectives, make critical judgments, and develop and test hypotheses. The important questions in higher order thinking are the ways learners incorporate…

Delineates the valid emphasis placed on humanities. Discusses and defines three modes of thinking particularly well-suited to the study of humanities and to helping students analyze, imagine, and question and that help them create value and meaning in their lives. (CRH)

The development of critical ability, or cognitive criticism, is being studied in a two-year Swedish project described in this progress report. Cognitive criticism is valuable in all occupational fields, but especially futurology and technology assessment. This project proposes to make concrete the aims of critical training, and to identify and…

If students are first taught writing as experience, then become aware of the intellectual and imaginative operations they use to shape that experience, they will be better able to manage the thinking and writing tasks of the various academic disciplines and of the world of work. This is the purpose of a proposed upper-level writing course that…

This book provides student activities organized around a class science project with the Gorilla Foundation. The gorillas featured in the project have been taught American Sign Language. Many of the activities involve the use of the story "Koko's Kitten" by Francine Patterson (New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1985). Sections of the book include: (1) "To…

Intended for administrators and policy makers as well as teachers, this digest explores issues surrounding methods of teaching thinking skills and who should teach them. Following an introduction that acknowledges the need for teaching such skills but a lack of consensus on how to meet this need, the digest discusses theories of isolating specific…