The use of simulations and digital games in learning and assessment is expected to increase over the next several years. Although there is much theoretical support for the benefits of digital games in learning and education, there is mixed empirical support. This research report provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical evidence behind…

This article examines the claims of the school subject technology education (called Design and Technology in some countries) as a vehicle for inculcating creativity in the curriculum, by introducing children to the world of problem solving and invention. Core foundational underpinnings of the subject are explored, including its hands-on nature,…

This article explores the relationship between research and teaching, arguing that each of them is both a demanding science and an imaginative art, and that they both manifest the values and processes of learning, the open mind and the open heart, as it were. This is a rather different proposition from the notion that "evidence" can be "applied"…

Examines the arguments of three educators (J. P. White, D. Cochrane, and B. Crittenden) who have criticized instructional attempts to expand children's creativity. While flaws in theory and practice are admitted, it is maintained that the critics apply standards to creative education that are not applied to general classroom teaching. (Author/SJL)

The importance of balancing content instruction with instruction in higher level thinking skills for gifted students is emphasized. The article recommends providing students with sophisticated content, relating that content to essential underlying generalizations and principles, and then concentrating on thinking skills. (SW)

Examines instructional design theories and elaborates principles about when learning is promoted, i.e., when learners are engaged in solving real-world problems, when existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge, and when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner, applied by the learner, and integrated into the learner's…

A videotape series produced by the Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Collection demonstrates college and secondary students' misconceptions about everyday phenomena and advocates teaching for understanding. Third International Science and Mathematic Study data show American and German teachers' interest in procedures and algorithms, compared with…

This paper discusses critical thinking and ways education leaders can apply it to problems in educational settings. It forwards a model of critical thinking, called TC2, designed by The Critical Thinking Consortium, a group of scholars, teachers, and educational leaders in British Columbia, Canada. The model addresses four interrelated components…

Maintains that Dewey tried to solve social problems related to the growth of industrialism, increasing economic inequality, and political inequality. Argues that Dewey aspired to create a counterculture to correct the human and social devastation of industrial capitalism through a curriculum and instruction that rooted academic learning in…

Design-Based Science (DBS) is a pedagogy in which the goal of designing an artifact contextualizes all curricular activities. Design is viewed as a vehicle through which scientific knowledge and real-world problem-solving skills can be constructed. Following Anderson and Hogan's (1999) call to document the design of new science pedagogies, this…

Discusses the role of Mexican immigration and Mexican-origin worker communities in the United States economic system; census data showing the unequal status and education of Mexican origin students; and methods to implement educational principles. Available from Centro de Publicaciones, Department of Chicano Studies, California State University,…

This book provides a comprehensive review of teaching-learning models used in the development and implementation of a curriculum for gifted students. The models described were selected for their demonstrated or potential success with gifted children and their widespread use. For each model, the following types of information are provided:…

LogoLearning represents a philosophy and a strategy that centers on enabling students to find meaningfulness in their education. In LogoLearning it is the major task of the teacher to broaden students' perceptions so that meaning becomes visible and the purpose of learning becomes immediately understandable. This book proposes that without…

The union of thought and feeling, the basis of the concept of "thoughtfulness," is one of the major themes of this book, which is designed to help teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and parents empower students to take more control of their own education and lives. It presents strategies for teaching students about the nature…

Introduces a collection of papers presented at a symposium on the situationally-specific character of problem-solving practices. Reports that findings provoke speculation about relations among social contexts, knowledge and activity, and relations between school-learned problem-solving techniques and those used in other settings. (KH)