Skills tutorials for first year engineering students at the University of New South Wales, Australia, were introduced in order to develop an awareness of certain conceptual skills commonly exercised by practicing engineers. Particular skills include the manipulation of information in different forms, translation from one form to another,…

This booklet is a self-study course in decision-making. Designed for the high school student, its purpose is to help the student develop and apply decision-making skills. The booklet contains both information and exercises. It begins with a discussion of why thoughtful decision-making is important, then deals with self-evaluation, sources of…

This practicum was designed to improve creative problem-solving skills in children through the use of career concepts. Although the full program was developed for youngsters in grade three through six, this project exposed fifth and sixth graders at the Northside School, Levittown, New York to the Career Awareness Program for a period of weeks.…

The Productive Thinking Program (PTP), consisting of 16 programmed lessons designed to develop productive thinking skills, was used as the basis of a program conducted with 546 fifth graders in 21 classes in four upstate New York school districts. One hundred and twenty students from one of these districts were involved in a modified Solomon Four…

Robert Gagne's model as presented in "The Conditions of Learning" (1970) is modified, extended, and used to form a logical model applicable to planning and teaching the social studies. It is used to develop planning procedures and to sequence instructional activities consistent with attaining complex levels of student learning. Sample…

Describes 10 key elements of generic teaching strategies for developing student thinking and provides a rationale for the participation of school library media specialists in developing student thinking skills. The role of media specialists within the school and the importance of information-based decision making in a free society are discussed.…

Among the barriers to acceptance of clinical problem-based medical education are institutional complacency and lack of rewards for teachers with academic competence in education rather than biological research and clinical care. (MSE)

The authors discuss activities that help mentally handicapped adults emphasize thinking processes: observation questions, impact chart, solving a puzzling situation, and use of examples/nonexamples. The authors stress use of simple concepts, concrete objects, and realistic situations in developing intellectual skills. (CT)

Delineates the five skill areas needed to maximize computer competency--concept formation, comprehension, problem solving, study techniques, and occupational reading and employability skills. (CRH)

Thinkback is a new instructional process that uses "thinking aloud" strategies developed by Arthur Whimbey and derives its name from the technology of instant video playback. Thinkback is a generalization of techniques described in the program "Problem Solving and Comprehension," which has been used for more than 20 years. The…

Eleven specific thinking skills are discussed, along with activities to help teachers develop each skill in their students. The skills are: (1) observing; (2) comparing; (3) classifying; (4) imagining; (5) hypothesizing; (6) looking for assumptions; (7) collecting and organizing data; (8) summarizing; (9) interpreting; (10) problem solving; and…

Results of an investigation of the permanency of gains in problem solving, listening, and abstract thinking among fifth graders are reported. Findings indicate that the experimental group with listening training shows greatest gains. (MH)

Gives an overview of the components of the problem-solving process, emphasizing its iterative, not linear, character. Describes how individual characteristics influence problem solving choices and outcomes, and discusses ways in which understanding of problem-solving informs some innovative teaching techniques, with examples from individual…

Argues that including computer programming in the curriculum as a medium for instruction is a feasible alternative for teaching problem solving. Discusses the nature of problem solving; the problem-solving elements of discovery, motivation, practical learning situations and flexibility which are inherent in programming; capabilities of computer…

Two field experiments were conducted to compare the effects of a cooperative learning group method to a whole-class method on acquisition of selected social-environmental studies problem-solving skills by 342 fourth graders. Both methods outperformed the control, but the cooperative strategy was less effective than was the whole-class method. (TJH)