A 2020 study from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media found that since 2004 over one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have disappeared. This reduction has left many people, especially those in poor rural areas, living in news deserts, where access to professionally vetted information is limited, if not…

Evidence-based research relevant to social work practice has grown dramatically. This article describes a method that was implemented to teach master's and doctoral social work students how to synthesize and evaluate evidence-based interventions for social work-related problems and populations. The method includes eight steps: conceptualize the…

The small-scale research that Yosanne Vella reports in this article was driven by concern to help pupils develop "big picture" visions of the past and to engage effectively with the idea of change as a process rather than an event. The strategy that she adopts--asking groups of students to colour in a timeline recording their judgement…

Presents a validated system for evaluating health care literature categorized as research papers, literature reviews, technique articles, opinion pieces, or monographs. Presents questions for critically assessing content and offers suggestions for instructing health care professionals in the use of the system. (SK)

Suggests that business communication curricula should include instruction in critical thinking, and offers ways in which students can practice their critical thinking skills using business curricula. (JC)

The relationship between argumentation and informal reasoning is discussed, followed by a consideration of instructional factors that influence argumentation performance. An account of one expert student reasoner is provided. Instruction in argumentation is reviewed, and suggestions are made for argumentation based on classroom experience. (SLD)

This article proposes that the behavior of teachers conducting small-scale evaluations of their own programs is analogous to the behavior of students solving curriculum-specific problems in classrooms and that teaching methods for training students in problem-solving skills can be usefully adapted to training teachers in evaluation skills.…

This article discusses empowering thinking skills such as brainstorming, problem solving, analysis; comparison/contrast and how to cultivate these abilities in gifted children. Examples are given of ways for teachers to model thinking skills for students. The response of a student to the ideas of the article is included. (PB)

This unit for grade 12 is intended to provide an introduction to the criticism of persuasive discourse. After a brief discussion of the definition of criticism, the unit proceeds to the establishment of standards for evaluating persuasive discourse, standards involving Kenneth Burke's pentad: act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. The unit then…

Six experienced teachers of fourth and fifth grades read and made judgments about the appropriateness, attractiveness, usefulness, and effectiveness of each of 32 short descriptions of language-arts activities. The activity descriptions had been edited to vary systematically on five features: amount of student involvement; difficulty for students;…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…