Verstehen, the understanding of human behavior, can be of value to teacher and student alike, bringing both to an increased level of sophistication in the learning process. (Author/PG)

Intended for teachers, administrators, and consultants, the booklet discusses purposes and objectives of teaching literature to gifted students in grades 1-3. Literature is seen as the heritage of important ideas in writing, and the purpose of the primary level gifted child's study of literature is defined as primarily the accumulation of ideas.…

A working definition of the humanities and characteristics of a liberally educated person are specified. The humanities embrace areas of human knowledge that possess these elements: central concern for human beings rather than for the processes of nature or the structures of society; primary focus on the individual rather than on the group;…

Where does course content fit into the context of modern theories and practices of a liberal arts education? Two camps within the academic community are described: those who feel responsible for the personal growth of their students and those who see themselves as dispensers of information. (LBH)

Engineering education is viewed as the development of the quality of thinking in students, and the implications of this approach for student assessment are discussed. (MSE)

Argues that much of current science curricula and instructional strategies do not accommodate the thinking and reasoning capabilities of students. Level of capacity for abstract logical reasoning, whether the capacity can be cultivated/enhanced, consequences of mismatched intellectual levels and instructional modes, and what thinking/reasoning…

In this paper it is shown that one's conception of intelligence and its development profoundly affects the formulation of educational objectives. A mechanistic conception of intelligence leads to the definition of objectives as a collection of fragmented "cognitive skills" that have little to do with children's development of intelligence. A…

An instructional system that is both efficient and effective should present information so that it is easily processed by learners and so that the cognitive structures resulting from instruction correspond to the structure of the content to be learned. This paper presents a discussion of methods for describing content structure and cognitive…

The concept of general education, its specific goals, and its role in the college curriculum are discussed. The goals of general education appear to center around teaching students to think analytically and to synthesize ideas into a general understanding. It is suggested, however, that these objectives tend to get lost in the specifics of…

This three-part report discusses the concept of intelligence and its importance for educators. Part 1 considers the basic question of what intelligence is. Part 2 discusses the implications of notions of intelligence for schooling, dealing with both the training of content knowledge and the training of intellectual skills. Each of these first two…

Reviews the place of creativity in the two major orientations of art education: (1) creative self-expression; and (2) discipline-based art education (DBAE). Asserts that critics of DBAE argue that it is dry and does not allow for creative expression. Rejects this notion and claims that properly implemented DBAE produces intellectual and emotional…

This handbook for educators and parents discusses the need to include philosophy in the elementary classroom. The authors point out that as a question-raising discipline, philosophy is appropriate to guide children's natural inquisitiveness through the educational process. It encourages intellectual resourcefulness and flexibility which can enable…