Investigates the development sequence of children's comprehension of riddles. In Study I riddles and jokes were collected and classified from children of grades 1 through 10. In Study II, students of grades 1, 3, 6, 10, and college were given selected riddles from three categories determined in Study I to test the predicted comprehension sequence.…

Studies the development of children's understanding of the multiple determination underlying human behavior. Subjects were kindergarten children, fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders. (CM)

Investigates several key statements from Piaget's cognitive psychology and their meaning for science education. Concludes that teaching must be conducted as reversibly as possible so that when the teacher presents his own assimilation schemata it will be equilibrated by the pupils' schemata. (GA)

Explores the nature and uses of human understanding by focusing on three points of emphasis: characterizing the meaning of human understanding as a function of being human, reviewing the consequences of inhumanity, and proposing a process for human understanding through multicultural consciousness. (CM)

The problem of student ignorance is really about adult ignorance of how to achieve thoughtful and long-lasting understanding. We will not escape our predominantly medieval view of curriculum, premised on knowledge as static and finite, until education learns the lessons of modern intellectual inquiry. Curricula should be organized around essential…

The questioning techniques which teachers use when leading a class discussion of a reading assignment can be an essential component of profitable instruction. A brief review of the past 50 years of research on questioning levels indicates a need for attention to the cognitive level of queries as well as to their sequence since investigators have…

This paper demonstrates a method for constructing long variables using items that elicit partically correct responses across ages. Long variables may be defined by students at different ages (year levels) attempting common items within a test containing other items considered to be appropriate for each age or year level. A developmental model of…

Suggests that teachers develop techniques to teach students strategies used by good comprehenders: paraphrasing passages, sifting out meaningful word clusters, searching for supportive examples, and making deductions. (MKM)

Provides a literature review of research done in recent years to identify comprehension processes within the reader. (TJ)

Word formation is seen as receiving too little attention in foreign language teaching; its study increases auditory and reading understanding. Practical suggestions are given for collecting and arranging material, and for analyzing the structure of words. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Current reading theory suggests that oral language skills and reading skills interact with and implement each other. Three guidelines are helpful in shaping the development of proficient readers. (1) From kindergarten on, each year should be spent moving from oral language to print. Furthermore, the move within oral language should be from…

The hypothesized relationship between an individual's age, educational background, and ability to understand aspects of semantic ambiguity was investigated in this study. The 90 subjects included ten students in each of grades two, four, six, eight, and ten, as well as ten college undergraduates, ten graduate students, ten high school graduates,…

Examines three approaches to fostering higher level thinking in students: (1) the stand-alone approach; (2) the embedding approach; and (3) the immersion approach. The first two approaches teach thinking skills separately from or in the context of subject matter content; the immersion approach assigns an active role to perception and downplays…

Many writers have suggested that comprehension occurs at several levels (e.g., literal, inference, and conclusion). However, many teachers spend as much as two-thirds of their time on lower-level skills such as phonics and literal-level comprehension skills. Some authors have suggested ways of assisting readers in achieving comprehension at more…