The Inclusive Assessment of Computational Thinking (CT) designed for accessibility and learner variability was studied in over 50 classes in US schools (grades 3-8). The validation studies of IACT sampled thousands of students to establish IACT's construct and concurrent validity as well as test-retest reliability. IACT items for each CT practice…

In relating brain hemisphere differences to education and educational administration, the author reviews literature on the issue and discusses the concepts involved. For background, he briefly goes over the history of brain and cognition studies and the advent of "split-brain" studies and the "triune" brain theory. Definitions…

The relationship of particular learning styles and plausible reasoning ability of 110 subjects from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade was examined. Data were compiled on a plausible reasoning test and on a Learning Style Inventory with four subscales: (1) Concrete Experience (CE), (2) Reflective Observation (RO), (3) Abstract Conceptualization (AC), and (4)…

It is hypothesized that certain mental structures are related to certain teaching skills. These structures are identified as combinatorial logic, essential to planning lessons, and hypothetical reasoning, an important aid in analyzing lessons. These formal thinking abilities should result in greater improvement during practice and later teaching.…

Examined the effect of stimulus content on logical performance in a reasoning task. Earlier reports of the facilitating effect of thematic material on the tendency to reason logically were not supported, nor were previous reports that matching is the most common determinant of behavior. (Author)

The aims of this study were (1) to test the dyadic superiority hypothesis by comparing dyadic performance on a logical reasoning task with the performance of children working alone, and (2) to determine whether the incorrect child's compliance with the correct child was a major factor in the dyadic production of correct answers. (Author/DB)

Examined the possible facilitating effect of thematic materials in Wason's selection task. Two experiments failed to replicate previous findings. In support of a memory-cueing hypothesis, improved performance was found for an implication rule that was part of subjects' past experience. (Author)

Information about individuals' representations of problems was obtained from studies on reasoning and problem categorization. College students (N=62) participated in a study of the transition from concrete to formal reasoning using the pendulum and chemical yellow tasks. Over a 10-12 week period, 47 students participated in 10 training sessions on…

Conceptual level is a personal characteristic that describes persons on a developmental hierarchy of increasing conceptual complexity, self-responsibility, and independence. The relationship between gender and conceptual level was explored in a group of 70 male and 63 female college students. The This I Believe Test (TIB) was administered to…

It has been suggested that cognitive style interacts with performance on tasks measuring formal thought. It is hypothesized that cognitive style interacts with task context rather than with the underlying formal thought processes. Experiments are reported to clarify the type of task that elicits an interaction and to determine whether such…

Describes the contents of a book entitled The Care and Feeding of Ideas: A Guide to Encouraging Creativity which considers the thinking process, why skills need to be developed, and how students use or should use these thinking skills. (RT)

Middle school teachers (n=123) in 2 southeastern states completed surveys examining the relationship of their abstract-concrete thinking levels to their multiethnic beliefs. Teachers' beliefs about multiethnic issues varied according to their individual thinking styles, with concrete thinkers holding beliefs that were less likely to nurture…

Papers presented at the 1980 National Conference on Reasoning, Piaget, and Higher Education are presented which address the implications of Piaget's research on the teaching of reasoning skills in higher education. Contents include the following: "Piaget: An Agenda, Not an Answer for the 80s," by Catherine M. Warrick; "Project…

The study examined the relation of language use and logical thought to social experience with both age and class held constant. The primary assumptions under study were: that the logic of symbolic grouping was highly sensitive to a child's experience with the objects to which that logic was applied; that the existence of diglossia in a bilingual…

Psycho-epistemology provides a framework for this study on interrelationships among teachers, subject matter, and learners. Chapter 1 presents the polemics that lead to the problem, including sections on educational divergence, the noncumulative nature of knowledge in education, the divergence of opinion regarding the "best" teaching and…