This digest complements guidelines addressing the mechanics of online searching by considering how treating information searches as exercises in critical thinking can improve our use of online resources. It addresses the use and application of metacognition, hypothesis testing, and augmentation. Improving metacognition means improving the ability…

Reviews recent ERIC materials on comprehension monitoring. (FL)

This digest examines the role metacognition can play in the teaching and learning of a second language. Understanding and controlling cognitive processes may be one of the most essential skills that classroom teachers can help second language learners develop. Rather than focus students' attention solely on learning the language, second language…

This Digest defines student engagement and describes various methods used to measure it, both in empirical research studies and at the classroom level. Student engagement has been defined in various ways, but it is evident that students who are engaged show sustained behavioral involvement in learning activities accompanied by a positive emotional…

Integrating metacognitive skills into classroom instruction can help students to develop into active, independent readers and learners. B. Armbruster, in a summary of research on metacognition, examined reading to learn from a metacognitive perspective as it related to four variables: texts, tasks, strategies, and learner characteristics.…

Intelligence has been defined and studied under a number of different rubrics. Three individuals serve as a representative sample of the educational and psychological researchers associated with cognitive psychology who have made significant contributions to current understandings of intelligence. Robert Sternberg's theory contains subcategories…

Despite a significant increase in test usage, numerous issues surrounding reading assessment remain unresolved. Construct validity--whether the test actually measures aspects of the behavior under consideration--is of particular importance if one is to rely on test scores to direct instruction, predict performance, or determine accountability. A…

In recent years, educational research and development has focused increased attention on ways of enhancing the instructional value of tests. This ERIC Digest summarizes some of the recent advances in linking instruction and assessment. Studies of teacher effectiveness indicate how important systematic assessment of student progress and use of test…

A number of researchers argue that the classroom must nurture an environment providing modeling, rehearsal, and coaching, for students and teachers alike, to develop a capacity for critical thinking. Despite the difficulties, many teachers are now promoting critical thinking in the classroom. They are (1) promoting critical thinking by infusing…

Children of migrant farmworkers spend parts of each school year in different communities across the country; some children migrate back and forth between schools in Mexico and the United States. The hardships and rich experiences of this lifestyle provide educators with unique challenges and, at the same time, opportunities to learn and develop…

This brief paper summarizes research on effective instruction in writing for students with learning disabilities. It finds that three components stand out as methods that reliably and consistently lead to improved outcomes in teaching expressive writing to these students. These components are: (1) adhering to a basic framework of planning,…

Designed to help practitioners become more familiar with the underpinnings, currents, pros and cons, and research studies produced by the critical-thinking movement in the United States, this special collection offers eight digests and three FAST (Focused Access to Selected Topics) annotated bibliographies concerning critical thinking at all…

Promising practices in the adult English-as-a-Second-Language literacy field that were observed by researchers during site visits are described in this digest. These innovative programs provide a social context for literacy, allow learning through hands on experience, and use learner-generated materials. Some programs may use the native language…

Studies show that metacognitive strategies can increase learning skills and that independent use of these metacognitive strategies can be gradually developed in people. The school library media center is the ideal place for students to learn how to develop metacognitive strategies; that is, they can learn how to connect new information to former…

The Intellectually Gifted/Learning Disabled Project investigated characteristics of this population and implications for educational programming. Twenty-three children, aged 7 to 16 years old, were identified through a referral process involving schools and parents. Only two subjects were female. A detailed analysis of school records; individual…