Classroom teaching suggestions excerpted from the book, "50 Simple Ways to Make Teaching More Fun" by Bob Algozzine, are offered. Suggestions include creative worksheets, using lotteries to improve attention and skills, and helping parents improve their child's thinking skills. (DB)

Describes 15 types of analogies, their facilitating function in mental processing, the kinds of knowledge for which they are most effectively employed, and their applicability across subject matter. Eight steps for constructing and presenting analogies and types of analogical relationships are included. Prevention of misconceptions is discussed.…

Compares the effectiveness of traditional lecture methods of instruction to group discussion methods of instruction in developing critical thinking. Finds no significant difference in the two instructional methods, but significant gains were found from the pretest to the posttest for both instructional strategies. Concludes that face-to-face…

Hands-on math must also involve students' minds in creative thinking. Math manipulatives must be used for uncovering, not just discovering. This paper presents guidelines for planning hands-on, minds-on math for elementary students. Suggestions include dialoging, questioning, integrating manipulatives and other tools, writing, and evaluating. (SM)

Discusses six strategies to help both students and teachers learn to make wise use of information on the World Wide Web: teaching the value of key word skills; using online sources available in the media center; creating pathfinders; teaching students sound searching skills that include Boolean logic; directing students to the best search engines;…

Explains how the process of creating a database provides opportunities for business instructors to use teaching strategies that promote higher-order thinking skills. Describes a project at a school of business in which each student must build an original database and apply functions of tables, queries, forms, and reports. (JOW)

Describes four approaches to improve students' abilities and inclination to think better: provide classroom learning environments that make thinking possible and students willing to engage in it; make the invisible substance of thinking visible and explicit; support student execution of newly encountered or complex thinking operations during…

Discusses "Philosophy for Children," a K-12 curriculum employing a pedagogy called the "community of inquiry." Discusses thinking and democracy; cognition in the classroom; teaching distributed thinking (text-as-model); promoting discussion and a community of inquiry; learning to do philosophy; philosophy and judgment; and the…

This study investigated the relationship of 3-year olds' reliance on desire when predicting behavior and their performance on false-belief tasks. Results suggested that young children may use the desires of the agent, rather than their own desires, to predict behavior in standard false-belief paradigms. Older preschoolers also have difficulty…

Three experiments examined whether 8.5-month-olds considered an object's width and compressibility when determining whether it could be inserted into a container. Results suggested that infants realized that large balls could fit into large but not small containers, whereas small balls could fit into both containers. Infants understood that large…

Describes WebQuests as inquiry-oriented activities in which most information is found on the World Wide Web and is designed to engage higher-level thinking skills. Offers suggestions on how to design good WebQuests that will offer quality materials, emphasizing the importance of finding good Web sites to base them on. (LRW)

Documents an instructional methodology to teach a fundamental reasoning skill during scientific inquiry: the evaluation of empirical evidence against multiple hypotheses. Uses an instructional framework with iterative cycles that lends itself to authentic scientific inquiry by providing a nontraditional approach to three aspects of learning: (1)…

Examined the effectiveness of 4-year women-only and coeducational colleges in cultivating women students' intellectual development. Found no significant differences relative to critical thinking ability and analytical and problem-solving skills, but women-only colleges appeared to have a greater positive impact on development of intellectual…

Argues that state mandated tests should emphasize critical thinking, thus mitigating the concern that such tests encourage instructional focus on rote factual learning. Conceptualizing critical thinking as argumentation provides a way to focus instruction and assessment on types of critical thinking valued in the workplace. Illustrates how this…

Examines the kind of peer learning that demands high-level cognitive processing, discussing how peer interaction influences cognitive processes (structuring peer interaction and using guided reciprocal peer questioning); how to promote cognitive processing (knowledge construction and integration and socio- cognitive conflict); metacognition; and…