Presents a rail gun demonstration that addresses a broad group of educational goals in introductory electricity and magnetism. Uses a battery-powered circuit consisting of a movable conductor placed across two conducting rails in a magnetic field to review mechanics, foster approximate reasoning and lateral class discussion, and demonstrate the…

Effective moral education requires children to engage in ethical inquiry. Ethical inquiry requires students to cultivate all aspects of their thinking, including critical, creative, and caring thinking (which includes active, affective, and valuative thinking). Only the discipline of Philosophy for Children, the narrative-and-discussion-based…

Explains the recursive model in discrete mathematics through five examples and problems. Discusses the relationship between the recursive model, mathematical induction, and inductive reasoning and the relevance of these concepts in the school curriculum. Provides ideas for approaching this material with students. (Author/DDD)

Investigates whether dyslexic and "garden variety" poor readers differ in reading-related cognitive skills. Suggests grounds for believing that dyslexia is a separate entity from garden variety poor reading. Finds support for the phonological-core variable-difference model of K. Stanovich in that both dyslexic and poor readers showed phonological…

Comparison of cognitive performance of 51 students with hearing loss and 64 hearing students indicated that, at age 10, students with hearing loss performed better on nonverbal tasks and worse on verbal tasks. At age 13, students with hearing loss performed poorly in both verbal and nonverbal tasks. (Author/SW)

Reviews briefly how imagery is integral to knowing and thinking, and how perception and reason do indeed reside under the same blanket. Details two college writing assignments that require writers to engage in "imaginal processes" in proportion to their verbal process. (SR)

UCLA has issued world history standards calling for less memorization and more historical thinking skills. The standards are neither rigid nor doctrinaire, but they have been criticized for promoting a national curriculum, stressing 20th-century events, downplaying traditional U.S. heroes, exhibiting an anti-Western bias, confusing suggestions…

Reviews research on children's imaginary companions. Notes that companions may serve many psychological functions, such as compensating for real or perceived deficits, and helping the child through difficult developmental times. Suggests that the companion does not compromise reality testing or social development, but may foster developmental,…

Notes that Logo, a computer programming language developed for children by Seymour Papert, constitutes a valuable learning environment for promoting higher order thinking skills and promotes development of flexible and creative thinkers. Introduces the concept of Logo microworlds. Stresses cooperative learning and the use of Logo to support…

The use of the summary in academic reading as an important study skill was studied with a group of 20 master's students in educational psychology. The hypothesis was that preparing a summary of a specialized text would reflect a student's ability to work with such texts in real life. (10 references) (LB)

Presents a review of the research on questioning skills. Discusses possible reasons why these skills are not being used in the classroom as often as they could or should be used. Explores various questioning strategies and how they can be used in the classroom to develop higher quality student thinking. (SR)

Describes an assignment that introduces students to argument through a collaborative process of data collection and problem solving. States that the goal of the assignment is to build students' confidence in their ability to apply the kinds of thinking and writing strategies they will need to succeed in college. (PRA)

Presents activities to help elementary students learn to interpret history. Using the voyage of Columbus, students can learn how history is written, what a historian's job is, and why it is important to analyze more than one point of view. The activities also teach students to understand historical symbols. (SM)

Muses on why, given its inherent difficulties, writing across the curriculum has gathered so many friends. Concludes it is because the most important function of writing across the curriculum is to develop the cultural literacy of students, focusing them as much on how something is known as on what it is that is known. (SR)

Argues that personalized system of instruction (PSI) and other contingency managed methods of instruction are effective for teaching higher order cognitive skills. Answers critics claims that instructional delivery system is not responsible for course content. Notes that PSI has been used in courses requiring higher order skills. Reports that…