Critical thinking (CT) is a metacognitive process, consisting of a number of sub-skills and dispositions that, when used appropriately, increases the chances of producing a logical conclusion to an argument or solution to a problem. Though the CT literature argues that dispositions are as important to CT as is the ability to perform CT skills, the…

This is one of two papers developed for an Ministry of Education funded project, Competencies in New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZC). This paper draws on archived policy discussion papers to document the provenance of the key competencies included in the "New Zealand Curriculum" ("NZC"). The second paper analyses…

Society is faced with more complex problems than in the past because of rapid advancements in technology. These complex problems require multi-dimensional problem-solving abilities that are consistent with higher-order thinking skills. Bok (2006) posits that over 90% of U.S. faculty members consider critical thinking skills as essential for…

Science education can build a bridge between research carried out by scientists and relevant learning opportunities for students. The Broader Impact requirements for scientists by funding agencies facilitate this connection. We propose and test a model curriculum development process in which scientists, curriculum developers, and classroom…

Drawing on cartography, urban design and visual data modelling, we consider how people navigate, or fail to navigate, the mental, physical and social spaces of knowledge communities. Cartographically inspired critical thinking offers opportunities to re-examine the assumptions and formal maps of post-secondary institutions, visualizing…

The "Accord on Initial Teacher Education" was created by the Canadian Deans of Education in 2006 to guide teacher educators across Canada. The "Story Model" (Drake et al., 1992) is aligned with the principles in the Accord and has proven useful in teacher education. Here it is explored as a framework for curriculum development…

Accreditation for Family and Consumer Sciences and for Interior Design programs includes standards to globalize education of undergraduate students. An integrative approach to planning curriculum relates the concept of global interdependence to the development of critical thinking skills for student decision-making. This was addressed in modifying…

Cochran-smith, Davis, and Fries (2004) reviewed the research, practice, and policy of multicultural teacher education during the last decade of the twentieth century and the first few years of the twenty-first century, and pointed out that the field needed to include inquiries that involve the work of practitioners who are studying their own…

A detailed explanation of a strategy for teaching any critical thinking skill is presented. The skill of distinguishing between statements of fact and opinion is used to illustrate the steps necessary to plan for teaching critical thinking. (RM)

Many Asian countries have strong elements of nationalistic education in their civic education. In 1996, a year before the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, a new official "Guidelines on Civic Education in Schools" was issued by the Education Department. This document proposes a curriculum framework with equal emphasis on human…

Sets forth theoretical propositions developed in the four-year-old Critical Spirit Project in Los Angeles, California. Contends that students learn to reason critically as they are initiated into school communities that grant importance to critical reasoning and treat instruction in critical thinking as a form of character education. (25…

To improve the teaching of thinking skills, social studies teachers need to identify and select a few key skills on which to focus continuously throughout the K-12 social studies curricula. They also need to identify the attributes of these skills. A model skill description is included. (RM)

This paper describes the arguments made for using interdisciplinary approaches in school curriculum. Specifically examined are the historical antecedents that inform discussions of interdisciplinary studies; how interdisciplinary studies are organized; whether differences exist across content areas; general assumptions made about teaching and…

Treating curriculum out of context is mostly responsible for the disappointments of curriculum theory in practice. Decontextualization has conceptually separated curriculum from its design and use; operationally, curriculum is separated from its structural and sociocultural contexts. The alternative--curriculum in context--can inform research,…

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to determine current in-service needs of agricultural faculties at Razi University in Kermanshah province in Iran. A descriptive research methodology design was used to conduct the study. The target population of the study consisted of all agricultural faculties in College of Agriculture at Razi…