In this study the authors analyze longitudinal student survey data from the 17-institution Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS) to determine the extent that the influence of overall exposure to clear and organized instruction on four-year growth in two measures of cognitive development is mediated by student use of deep approaches…

This qualitative study focused on observed and perceived changes in academic and personal attitudes and behaviors by student participants in the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program at the University of Minnesota (UMN). The PAL model employs best practices from national peer learning models including Supplemental Instruction, Peer-led Team…

The purpose of this investigation was to explore possible relationships between Socioscientific Issues instruction and students' development of reflective judgment. The usefulness of the Reflective Judgment Model as a tool for assessing the value of SSI is established in the parallels that can be drawn between them. Both involve ill-structured…

Systems thinking is an essential cognitive skill that enables individuals to develop an integrative understanding of a given subject at the conceptual and systemic level. Yet, systems thinking is not usually an innate skill. Helping students develop systems-thinking skills warrants attention from educators. This paper describes a study examining…

This article describes the development of a systematic and practical methodology for assessing program effectiveness and monitoring student development in undergraduate decision sciences programs. The model we present is based on a student's progression through learning stages associated with four key competencies: technical, analytical,…

Without adequate reading comprehension, writing proficiency, math competency, and critical thinking skills, students pursuing higher education are vulnerable to failure. An environmental Science course built around academic wholism is the focus of a summer program designed to bridge the gap between high school and college. Students self-reflect…

This Digest discusses approaches to group learning in the language classroom, presenting some principles that are common to any group learning approach, whether it be cooperative learning, student team learning, group investigation, or collaborative learning. The Digest also discusses the Collaborative Learning Model (Reid et al., 1989) which…

Describes current issues and difficulties inherent to the topic of critical thinking in physical education; also presents and discusses a schematic representation of a theoretical critical thinking model for the psychomotor domain (cognitive organizing, cognitive action, cognitive and psychomotor outcomes, and metacognitive monitoring). (SM)

Addresses the importance of bringing "brain compatible teaching" to the classroom. Suggests a model to develop critical-thinking processes of students to help them deal with a diverse and technologically advanced society. (PA)

This paper presents two separate and contrasting "opinion pieces" on the subject of multiple intelligence. Over the past few years, James Delisle has become more and more bold in his attacks on Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) and Joseph Renzulli's Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM). He has made numerous…

A Piagetian-based, systematic instructional theory developed by A. E. Lawson was used as a reasoning model in a 12th-grade English course at Grand Island Senior High in Grand Island, Nebraska, from 1982 to 1991. The thinking patterns that comprised the hypothetical-deductive stage of human intellectual development used in the course were…

This paper discusses portfolios as an evaluative process in teacher education, noting that although there has been significant curriculum change over the years, yet little change has occurred in student evaluation methods. For schools to demonstrate improvement, new and creative evaluation measures are needed. Portfolios provide a chance to create…

This project sought to focus on elements of critical thinking and reflective judgement specific to the college classroom experience using the Reflective Judgment (RJ) Model developed by P. M. King and K. M. Strohm-Kitchener. The project included an exploration of college instructors' assumptions and beliefs about college students, and an…

This paper reports on a study which used a new model, the Cluster Analytic Model (CAM), to determine the relationship between college coursework and general learning, as determined by the nine item types of the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and a faculty survey of perceptions of general learned abilities in relation to…

The Ohio Consortium for Portfolio Development was established in 1988 as an interinstitutional research effort to integrate portfolio development into teacher education. A subphase focused on portfolio use by entry year teachers in a metropolitan school system. Personnel at Wright State University, Central State University, and the University of…