This paper outlines the current state of knowledge about how intellectual competence is acquired. Implications resulting from recent changes in the psychology of learning and development are beginning to revitalize the science of learning and instruction. Four broad topics illustrate the links between instructional experiments, fundamental…

One of three related documents produced in response to a need for direct instruction in thinking skills at the secondary level, this program for high school students bases its approach on involvement of students in direct experiences. Designed to build on the thinking skills that the student already possesses and, ideally, on the experience gained…

This is one of three volumes of instructional games devised to further the development of children's listening, logical thinking, problem solving, and oral communication skills. The games are designed to create a relaxed, informal setting in which teachers can encourage and support children's natural speech and provide language activities that…

Three experimental studies were carried out to examine the ability of groups of learners of English as a second language to solve problems of deductive reasoning (three term linear syllogisms) in their native and second languages. In the first study involving Canadian francophones studying English, subjects solved problems more effectively in…

At this seminar, educational practitioners and researchers affirmed that school curricula must be redesigned to teach the student to reason, explore, and discover for himself. The seminar participants discussed innovations currently available and the steps that should be taken by elementary schools to supplant the teaching of facts with…

This article, translated into Spanish from the French, discusses changes and increasing complications in society which call for educational reform and improvement. Elementary education, traditionally based on memory skills, should become the setting for the development of mental processes and intellectual skills through the activity of problem…

Reports on a study where pairs of students in the fifth and seventh grades generated and answered questions based on maps. Results indicated that students most often generated three types of questions: (1) symbol reading, (2) inferring latitude and longitude, and (3) interpreting scale. Analyzes these questions in regard to cognitive processes.…

Evaluated effects of time pressure on attributions made and solutions generated in hypothetical social problem situations by aggressive and nonaggressive boys. Found a greater level of arousal in the time pressure condition than the untimed condition across all subjects and greater numbers, more types, and more aggressive solutions. (SD)

Current thinking of researchers from different disciplines about interaction among students in educational settings and the potential of peer interaction for learning and cognitive development is discussed. Topics of the eight papers presented include: potential outcomes of peer interaction, its nature, peer learning settings, and factors shaping…

Describes the "number 2 arithmetic challenge," an activity in which students score points by creating examples using the number 2 that satisfy an unknown rule. Computers are utilized to verify and record examples. Conflicts with computer responses create situations to explore negative numbers, fractions, mixed numbers, the order of…

Presents the results of a survey of 165 seventh grade students asked to respond yes, no, or maybe to 21 metacognitive statements about their cognitive activity on a mathematical word problem. Suggests how to use the responses as a basis for developing classroom activities. (MDH)

A longitudinal study followed Brian from grade five through grade seven to examine his representation and development of mathematical knowledge. Some observations over the four years were that Brian liked to figure things out, responded poorly to suggestions not fitting the representation he constructed, and changed attitudes from purposeful and…

Reports on a study of 22 pairs of third-grade students and 22 pairs of seventh-grade students who worked on a variety of computer-based tasks. Finds that older students were more likely to focus on internal pattern construction than remaining oriented toward external characteristics of the patterns. (CFR)

A 2-year study at the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec) investigated the changes in six medical students' clinical reasoning processes as they participated in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. In each year, students performed a think-aloud protocol with two medical case problems to solve, one in cardiology and one in urology. In the…

This issue contains abstracts and critical comments on 11 articles, plus an editorial comment entitled "A Teacher Shortage?". Studies included concern solution processes on addition and subtraction examples; numerical rule induction; individual differences in performance on manipulative, pictorial, and symbolic tasks; the effect of a…