In this article, the authors explore the corpus of literature on creative thinking and applied creativity in higher education to help composition teacher-scholars and writing center practitioners improve the application of creativity in written, visual, and multimodal composing practices. From studies of creative thinking investigated across…

Describes how elementary linear algebra can be taught successfully while introducing students to the concept and practice of mathematical proof. Suggests exploring the concept of solvability of linear systems first via the row echelon form (REF). (Author/KHR)

Analyzes difficulties of students experiencing their first contact with heuristic hypotheses. Attempts to interpret these difficulties and suggest remediations. Uses an example from the chemistry of aqueous solutions. (MKR)

Protocols were obtained from 22 subjects as they discovered the conditions under which equilibrium is obtained on a balance beam by predicting and observing the outcomes of a series of problems. The interviews revealed that subjects used a variety of heuristics to make predictions once they had isolated the two relevant features of the problem,…

Proposes that technical writing teachers have a special responsibility to use their subject matter to advance the critical reasoning processes required in the composing process, the disciplines, and the professions. Suggests 10 critical thinking skills to encourage in technical writing courses. (MS)

Explores the problem-solving behavior of a university lecturer as well as that of undergraduate and graduate students. Identifies and describes 14 physical and cognitive actions employed in the problem solving. Contains 28 references. (DDR)

Provides a conception of critical thinking and the critical thinker, who is characterized by five intellectual resources: background knowledge, operational knowledge of good thinking, knowledge of critical concepts, effective heuristics, and habits of mind. Explains, with examples, each intellectual resource. Discusses the task of teaching…

This paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study which focused on identifying and describing the conceptions of programming and related phenomena of about 120 computer science and computer engineering students learning to program. The report begins by tracing developments in the students' conceptions of programming and its parts, and…

The undergraduate curriculum in differential equations has undergone important changes in favor of the visual and numerical aspects of the course primarily because of recent technological advances. Yet, research findings that have analyzed students' thinking and understanding in a reformed setting are still lacking. This paper discusses an ongoing…

A number of studies have reported that there is a strong tendency to ignore base-rate information in favor of individuating information, except when the former can readily be incorporated into a causal schema. In this study, students in eight undergraduate classes were given problems in which the base-rate information was either causal or…

Differentiates between learning efficiency (enhancing the rate of learning) and learning effectiveness (enhancing the mastery and retention of facts, concepts, and relationships). Discusses some of the contributions of knowledge engineering to metalearning. Provides a concept map for constructing knowledge bases, along with some possible…

Discusses Vee mapping, a technique to assist students in categorizing the relationship between the conceptual and procedural aspects of science. Presents a study to investigate elementary education majors' (n=27) use of the Vee heuristic and concept mapping for the construction of knowledge; attitudes toward learning science in collaborative…