This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of a Generative Learning-based biology module to improve the analytical thinking skills of the students with high and low reading motivation. The method used was a 2x2 factorial design. The participants were 250 students of the Class XI SMA Kota Kotabumi. The researcher used an intact group…

This paper describes a student-staff partnership to design learning activities and assessments for an undergraduate Film Studies course. Four students and three staff designed the new assessments and learning activities to develop students' knowledge and skills to produce a video essay. The new assessments were co-developed in semester one so that…

Economic educators often profess the goal of teaching our students to "think like economists." Since Siegfried and colleagues (1991) coined this phrase, its meaning has been interpreted as a focus on analytical concepts and methods of economics as opposed to the broader goal of preparing students for independent, critical thought in the…

Action research assumes the active engagement of the stakeholders, such as the community, in the research, and a multiple-level process of reflection in order to evaluate and monitor the actions taken. This makes action research a suitable methodology to increase the critical understanding of the participants. In this paper we describe the…

Western alienation is one of the critical challenges facing Canada in the 1980s, and its roots are deeply imbedded in Canadian history. A two-week unit of study, designed for a senior Canadian history program, involves students in exploring the historical and contemporary dimensions of this alienation. (RM)

U.S. history is an ideal subject in which to inculcate skepticism and to teach critical thinking skills. High school students who read and analyze rival interpretations of history come to expect that there is more than one viewpoint to most historical topics. Sample lessons are presented. (RM)

Argues that teachers can achieve the goal of reducing prejudice by focusing on the development of thinking skills. Describes how a group of tenth grade teachers taught a unit on the Holocaust which actively engaged students' thinking and reduced their level of prejudice while increasing their self-esteem. (JDH)

In this unit, elementary students are involved in many activities that introduce them to the basics of anthropology and archaeology. They interpret artifacts and record and interpret archaeological data, learn about environmental indicators and the significance of archaeological findings, and study conservation. The unit's culminating activity is…

A eighth-grade environmental hazards unit is described. Includes unit objectives, typical activities, and a taxonomy of environmental hazards. Indicates that the unit helps develop skills in thinking critically and helps in clarifying environmental values by examining three major traditions of American environmentalism: biocentric, ecological, and…

This 10-day unit on the French Revolution is designed to help high school students understand the interplay of economic, social, and political forces in the process of revolutionary change, and the development of modern democratic forms of government. Critical thinking and geographic skill activities are employed throughout the unit and include…

A selection from a U.S. history textbook dealing with the problems of the Northwest Territory during the eighteenth century is used to show how teachers can teach students to recognize different points of view, in this case those of the British, the American settlers, and the American Indians. (RM)

This textbook/workbook for secondary school students is designed to stimulate inventive problem solving of future world problems. It is organized into four units and contains 23 lessons. Unit I defines the nature of the course and provides methods for stating and defining problems, brainstorming, working in groups, and judging ideas. Unit II…

The set of three units, designed for middle and junior high school gifted students, includes 30 lessons on logic and critical thinking. Each lesson includes information on objectives, materials, and teaching presentation suggestions. Ten deductive reasoning lessons focus on such topics as fact and opinion, tests for validity of deductive…

Students analyze 29 statements taken from news media concerning the world's population and food production. Objectives are to compare data to identify relationships; recognize that data can be misleading when taken out of context; and understand the need to check multiple data sources. (Author/AV)

This five day unit, designed specifically for the third grade level, integrates the social and natural sciences. The unit introduces students to how plants were used in the past, and how they are used today. It also incorporates critical thinking skills that will encourage students to explore how plants will play a role in our future. The first…