Informal logic, developed in response to the shortcomings of standard introductory college logic courses, stands between formal logic and critical thinking and is consequently subject to two opposing tensions. The first of these tensions concerns analogues to formal principles, context-independent criteria for identifying and assessing arguments.…

An experiment compared solving of operational and diagnostic problems after different instruction about a fictitious device. Solution of both kinds of problems was facilitated by instruction (1) that focused on functional relations among components of the device or (2) that focused on states of the individual components. For operational problems,…

Defining critical thinking as a conscious process means that teachers can make students aware of the process and can affect the process. In addition, teachers can help students to evaluate their use of the process. The goal in any course is to involve students in the practice of critical thinking, and the oral exam reflects the students'…

The result of a move in the State of New Jersey to establish a common core of knowledge and skills in specified high school courses, this paper presents the core course proficiencies for English courses students take to meet high school graduation requirements in English (Language Arts). The paper first briefly discusses the background, purpose,…

Modern society is full of examples of people's inability to employ techniques of critical thinking in everyday situations. Learning to think critically is important because within this complex society, individuals are constantly placed into situations where difficult choices must be made. An ability to analyze critically available alternatives…

This paper presents two general approaches to the assessment of knowledge structures, the first of which entails the building of empirical evidence to support cognitive theory. This type of assessment is concerned with attempting to prove the existence of various knowledge structures; that is, evidence that leads to the construct validity of these…

Marzano's Taxonomy--the most current and comprehensive guide in 50 years to define the new standard for education--is a resource for all directors of curriculum and instruction, directors of staff development, principals, and teachers. Developed by Robert Marzano and John S. Kendall, internationally recognized experts in the development and…

This book is designed to help teachers understand children's intuitive problem solving and computational processes and to figure out how to use that knowledge to enhance students' understanding of arithmetic. This book provides numerous examples of classroom dialogues that indicate how algebraic ideas emerge in children's thinking and what…

This book contains activities related to fractions and proportions. The activities span many grade levels as well as many levels of sophistication. Each activity is accompanied by a set of Teachers Notes that include a discussion of the mathematics topics, grade range, materials needed, mathematics of the activity, and implementation notes. All…

Cover story, in the sense of context, is a potentially relevant factor in the assessment of reasoning and problem solving in science, given repeated demonstration of its effects on laboratory tasks. This study follows up on a preliminary interview study that showed cover story influenced the way students were assessed at the end of an…

No word-list memorization here! Instead, in this book educators will discover classroom-tested, research-based strategies for teaching spelling in a way that reflects how middle school students actually learn -- by using spelling strategies and recognizing language patterns. This publication presents a wealth of strategies, activities, and ideas…

Human nature had traditionally been the realm of novelists, philosophers, and theologicians, but has recently been studied by cognitive science, neuroscience, research on babies and on animals, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology. In this paper I will show--by surveying relevant research and by analyzing some mathematical "case studies"--how…

This article reports on a study aiming to design learning systems in which students' knowledge of reflection is brought closer to institutional knowledge of this isometry and to compare how their activities shape and are shaped by different forms of mediation. It presents descriptions of interactions of groups of students (aged 12-13 years) with…

This paper, written in Spanish, examines the viewing guide for the film "Breaking Away." The guide, prepared by the United States Information Agency, was intended for the use of teaching English as a Second Language. It is evaluated, along with the movie, to determine whether it fulfills its objectives of providing enriched and critical thinking…

Environment-based education (EBE) focuses on the interdisciplinary integration of the subject by using constructivist, team teaching, self-learning, and student-centered instructional approaches. This report defines environment-based education and discusses advanced developments in learning skills and character education. Contents include: (1)…