Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT…

Although there are many pedagogical approaches to teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), most share the objective of preparing second language (L2) learners to engage in academic study. One of these EAP approaches, the Sustained Content-based approach, includes the explicit teaching of critical thinking as part of course design. This study…

This report describes a program for enhancing critical thinking skills within the high school English and theatre classrooms. The targeted population consists of high school students in two multicultural middle-class suburbs of Chicago. The lack of critical thinking in the classroom was documented through data garnered from teacher observations,…

The problems stated for this investigation were as follows: (1) to determine if there is an increase in critical reading ability for students from grades thirteen to fourteen; (2) to determine if there is a difference in the critical reading ability of males and females in grades thirteen and fourteen; (3) to determine the relationship between…

This thesis provides a format for the use of newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and movies in the secondary school classroom. It attempts to inform teachers of what materials are most appropriate to the interests and informational needs of high school students, and it attempts to provide a method to teach students how to systematically…

This paper describes a program for increasing problem solving and critical thinking skills in mathematics. The targeted population consisted of one kindergarten, one first- and one second-grade classroom in an elementary school located in an older established community 12 miles west of Chicago. The problem was documented through student…

This study examined adult educators' perceptions of components related to critical thinking, including definitions of critical thinking, instructional methods used, and methods of measuring students' growth. A self-report survey method elicited responses from adult educators who currently teach or previously taught adult education courses in…

An experimental treatment consisting of inquiry laboratory experiences was administered to a group of 41 students enrolled in an introductory college chemistry course. Using a control group of 36 for comparison, students were evaluated to determine attitudinal changes, critical thinking skills, content mastery, laboratory performance skills, and…

This report investigated to what extent a curriculum designed to actively teach critical thinking skills resulted in students utilizing higher-order thinking skills (e.g., analysis, synthesis and evaluation). An intervention strategy was designed for a sixth grade class located in a diverse suburban community in northern Illinois. The intervention…

Reported is an investigation to determine if changes in college students' understanding of the nature of science and in critical thinking result from modifying a "traditional," general education, laboratory, physical science course. The criterion instruments were the Test on Understanding Science (TOUS), Form W; the Wisconsin Inventory of Science…

This report describes a program for developing and improving critical thinking skills in adolescents in order to prepare them for life-long learning. The targeted population consisted of high school math and social studies students from two middle-class communities located in northern Illinois. The students' lack of critical thinking skills was…

A study examined the change in the critical thinking skills of associate degree nursing students as they progressed through their educational process at the Reedsburg campus of Madison Area Technical College (MATC) in Wisconsin. The study sample consisted of two cohorts of 24 students each (students entering MATC's associate degree nursing program…

To investigate whether certain sections of the newspaper could be used effectively in teaching critical reading and thinking skills to educationally disadvantaged adults, 29 students enrolled in a developmental reading class were instructed for eight weeks using specific newspaper articles to develop critical and analytical skills. A control group…

This study was conducted in order to assess the difference in concept development and principle learning between high school biology students studying the origin of life from a two-model approach (evolution and creation) and those using the single-model approach of evolution only. The pre-test, post-test control group design using a criterion…

Reported is a study of the relationship of independent study, object visualization, and anxiety to hypothesis formation by college freshmen in the biological sciences. The participants of the study were 108 undergraduate females who had no previous science instruction and who were enrolled in introductory biology classes. The subjects, randomly…