Proposes six principles to follow when teaching students to think. Aimed at teaching thinking as an indivisible process rather than as a set of discrete skills, the principles involve active learning, the articulation of thinking, intuitive understanding, structuring courses developmentally, motivating learning, and establishing a positive…

Illustrates techniques for the development of thinking skills, using the processes of observation, recall, information processing, and concluding. (SK)

Forty-three students (ages 16-17) gifted in physics/mathematics were compared with 34 typical students to investigate the cognitive experience of gifted individuals. Results found the gifted students had different representations of reality and the future, more complex and rich conceptual representations, and more developed intellectual control.…

This annotated bibliography attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What is criticial thinking? (2) Can it be taught and to whom? (3) Which methods are most practical for teaching critical thinking to secondary students? and (4) Can its acquisition be tested? The first question researches the literature for a definition of the term. The…

Describes a self-instructional photo-study learning center on comprehension skills for remedial readers. (MKM)

One aspect of Jean Piaget's theory of intellectual development is presented and its implications for designing and using homework problems is discussed. Suggested is a way in which homework problems can be used to provide students an opportunity for self-regulation. Also discussed are the deficiencies of typical homework problems and examples are…

To determine the effects of instruction in general semantics on the critical thinking of secondary students, 104 tenth- and eleventh-grade students in control and experimental groups completed the "Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal" test before and after the 12-week teaching period, in which two teachers spent 1 hour per week in the…

Piaget's developmental theory is discussed and several research findings that involve Piaget's theories are reported. The understanding of reasoning patterns is presented as a means for the science teacher to identify the conceptual emphasis and demands of the subject matter and to help students develop more advanced reasoning patterns than they…

Psychological equilibration (internal mental process by which individuals develop intellectually) is discussed in terms of its origin in the biological theory of evolution and in the thinking of Jean Piaget. The importance of equilibration theory for biology instruction is then considered. (Author/JN)

Investigates differences between adolescents and older adults in their explanations of linguistic metaphors. Adults displayed a synthesizing, integrative perspective, while adolescents displayed an analytic perspective in their explanation of metaphors. (Author/SS)

Two years after the end of a two-year intervention program set within the context of science learning intended to promote formal operational thinking, achievement of students (n=234) was tested by their results on British National examinations taken at age 16. Male experimental subjects achieved an average of 40 percent more grades of C or above…

Differences in performance IQs between deaf children of hearing parents (HP), deaf children of deaf parents (DP), and hearing children (HC) may be a result of differences in speed of information processing. DP adolescents were found to have faster reaction and movement times than HP or HC subjects along with equivalent IQs. (Author/VW)

Discusses a study that examined which reasoning patterns are necessary for success in high school chemistry. Based on student (N=170) scores from the "Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning," it was revealed that students who use formal reasoning patterns are capable of greater achievement in chemistry. (ML)

Examined the effects of Piagetian-like tasks' characteristics on the performance of those tasks by different age group students. Indicates the method of task presentation had an effect only on young students' performance, while numerical content had an effect on the majority of students in all grades. (Author/CW)

The two-fold role of the content area secondary school teacher in teaching content and in teaching learning process is investigated. A research model, called the Structured Overview, showing the relationships among basic elements of the study of the secondary school curriculum is presented, and assumptions clarifying the perspective of the nature…