Reading comprehension skills can be taught effectively across the curriculum leading to enhanced critical thinking and reading skills, as well as improved performance in content areas. Skilled readers plan their approach to the task at hand, monitor their learning as they read, apply strategies to foster learning, evaluate, and if necessary,…

A cognitive-based system of analysis of spoken discourse was designed to provide details about the way pupils think and talk about issues arising from prose material. Written and spoken responses were analyzed to examine the effects of intellectual ability, differences in the stimulus passage, and prior small group discussion. (Note: Page…

Explicates a multicultural approach to art education that enhances critical thinking. Grounds this approach in the philosophical principles of constructivism that emphasize the student's construction of meaning rather than the passive transmission of knowledge from a teacher. Discusses the possibility of multicultural reasoning and its…

Provides an overview of the recent research concerning the application, benefits, and deficiencies regarding critical-reading skills and college instruction. Discusses how reading skills support cognitive processes necessary for acquiring psychological knowledge. Delineates the differences between narrative (story-like, believable) reading and…

Summarizes interviews with British West Indies children concerning the production of art and the role of the artist. Demonstrates that children's perceptions undergo a shift from naive realism (pretty things make pretty pictures) to a more interpretive stance (the artist's efforts define the final product). (MJP)

Reforms in higher education are appearing in the new guidelines that are being developed for general education curriculums across the country. Constituents leading education reform have suggested that writing be integrated across the curriculum and embedded within several discipline-based courses. Advocates of this approach require that schools…

This study, part of the National Study of Student Learning, investigated the influence of differential exposure to postsecondary education, particularly the impact of type of institution, number of credit hours, and other factors on gains in critical thinking skills. the sample was 2,092 first-year students attending 13 four-year and 4 two-year…

The critical thinking curriculum used in the four-year business degree program at the Auckland Institute of Technology Faculty of Commerce in New Zealand is described. The design of the business program is modeled on the authors' view of critical thinking as concerned with the intellectual maturity of the whole person. Key intellectual standards…

This study investigated the comparative capacity of women-only and co-educational colleges to impact on two dimensions of women students' intellectual development: (1) intellectual self-confidence; and (2) critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The study also attempted to isolate the effect of attending women-only colleges from other…

Recent national studies have pointed out the changing educational needs of young people as the United States moves from an industrial society to an information society. Selected middle school students in Ohio were involved in a two-year federally-funded program entitled "Learning for Leadership." The objectives of the program were: (1)…

A suggested curriculum to be used to teach mass communications in Finnish comprehensive schools is described. Instead of concentrating on either an aesthetic or medium-bound (e.g., film education) approach, this curriculum focuses on the mass media as social institutions and on developing in young people a critical, thoughtful approach to mass…

This report describes the development over three trial semesters of a required course for sophomores at Baker University (Kansas) to develop reasoning and critical thinking skills that would prepare them for a required senior capstone course. The report describes the work of the faculty team that prepared two textbooks ("Reasoning and…

The author, who is an award winning college professor, is often asked about her philosophy of teaching. She reflects upon her own undergraduate experiences when she considers what makes an effective course. In this article, the author shares and discusses five principles of teaching that define her teaching philosophy: (1) Be approachable; (2) Use…

The essentials of Piaget's theory and its application to teaching at the college level are described as part of the Learning and Evaluation Service workshop, Teaching Students to Reason, offered at Michigan State University. Objectives are to enable the teacher to: (1) diagnose and classify reasoning patterns of students; (2) evaluate current…

Adolescents, ages 11-12 and 13-14, were tested for maturity of judgment about stability-change situations and about time perspective. (CP)