Examines the way third, fifth, and seventh graders evaluate evidence and reasoning with argumentative criteria to determine the extent to which children develop argumentation skills naturally. Finds that nearly all children adequately judged evidence and reasoning in arguments, and children exhibited systematic changes in ability to analyze…

Two experiments studied teachers' proficiency in assessing students' higher order thinking skills. After training alone or after training plus implementation of an instructional unit on correlational thinking, teacher ratings of student samples did not correspond highly with an expert's assessment although they showed sensitivity to student age…

Offers brief descriptions of eight books which are recommended readings on critical thinking. (SR)

Discusses the Renaissance idea of "copia," a rhetorical and literary term indicating enthralling richness in terms of detail, variation, and figures of speech, which might now be termed "copias thinking." Offers examples from Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, and Shakespeare. Discusses the uses for copias thinking. (SR)

Discusses effective teaching and its relationship to learning styles, instructional processes, and teacher commitment. Stresses the importance of knowing the students and the subject matter and developing students' higher order thinking skills. (JOW)

Argues that educators need to encourage students' capacity to care while teaching them how to work together as a community of critical thinkers. Surveys critical thinking theories and proposes that educators embrace a new model for knowledge, one that is relational, and a redefinition of critical thinking as constructive thinking. (GLR)

Hypothesizes that the incidence of process-oriented thinking increases with the syntactic complexity of the problem presentation. Presents data confirming students' arithmetic preferences in the form of left-to-right translation along with evidence to show the effects of the ordering of data presentation in the problem statements on the…

Describes teaching about proofs in college-level mathematics courses. Presents typical questions that students raise while studying proofs and offers possible answers to these questions. (ASK)

Traces the recent differentiation of the construct of talent (versus gifted) and discusses how talent emphasis has enriched the field of gifted education. Examines definitions of talent and describes talent as a high-performance capability in specific academic disciplines or achievement domains other than the arts; thinking skills; a…

Examines reflective teaching, discussing the meaning of reflection; the origins of reflection; the popularity and importance of reflective teaching; different types of reflective teaching (technical reflection, deliberative reflection, personalistic reflection, critical reflection, and reflection-in and on-action); and how teacher educators can…

Presents two linked experiments on reasoning by analogy. Shows in the first experiment that there are two processes underlying reasoning by analogy: (1) using abstract knowledge; and (2) case-based reasoning. Demonstrates in the second how some individuals use both processes and how they can lead to long-term acquisition of principles underlying…

Investigates 10-year-old children's abilities to reason by analogy in solving addition and subtraction comparison problems involving unknown compare sets and unknown reference sets. Children responded in a consistent manner to the tasks involving the basic addition problems, indicating substantial relational knowledge of these but responded in an…

Comparability of two forms of the CCTST is evaluated. Data are compared with a previously reported study; relationships to comparable tests are considered. Evidence indicates low internal-consistency reliability estimates, a lack of comparability, and poor construct validity for Forms A and B of the CCTST. (Author/EMK)

Adult and 10- and 12-month olds participated in two experiments to determine reliance of infants on object-kind information in solving problems of object individuation. Findings converge with those of object-first hypothesis of developmental course of object individuation. Findings suggest that young infants may represent one concept as criteria…

Demonstrates a change in the goals of teaching the algebra of equation-solving in Victoria, Australia that requires a transition from a way of solving problems in arithmetic to a conceptually new algebraic way. Contains 20 references. (Author/ASK)