A meta-analysis considered the impact of various methods of improving public communication skills on critical thinking. Manuscripts were obtained by searching the available electronic databases (COMINDEX, Dissertation Abstracts, ERIC, Index to Communication Journals, PSYCHLIT), various bibliographies available on the topic, as well as the…

This book is a guide to help teachers develop performance-based curriculum projects that include authentic assessments. Section 1, Project-Based (or Performance-Based) Learning and Performance Assessment, describes and gives a rationale for this type of learning and assessment and project-based classrooms. It also notes the role of teachers and…

The reasons people most often give for the failures of U.S. schools involve poverty, racial inequality, and a host of social problems. This paper argues that even if all these conditions were remedied, the schools would not produce many more people with the ability to think than they do today. Teachers, who are usually able to think, do not know…

Several informal studies investigating what teaching methods lead to developments in critical thinking skills among elementary and secondary students suggest that students themselves may be the best means for teaching students. A researcher and a second-grade teacher, reflecting on three years of collaborative research, found that students are…

This literature review on teaching thinking skills examines information from the British Education Index, ERSDAT, and ERIC database. After discussing whether thinking skills can be taught, it describes what science says (e.g., there is much to learn about the working brain, and much of the growth in human brains occurs in early childhood),…

This report describes a program for improving students' mathematical thinking skills through improved use of mathematics vocabulary and numerical operations. The targeted population includes sixth grade general education mathematics students and ninth grade special education mathematics students. The students' inabilities to effectively solve…

This is the fourth volume in a series describing 16 types of intelligent behavior called habits of mind. It presents a collection of papers that explain how communities, departments, teams, school districts, and school faculties can integrate the habits of mind into the school culture and sustain them. After "Series Foreword: Thinking on the…

The view of the researcher is that students in the upper elementary to middle school range need to increase their problem-solving skills by making logical deductions and organizing and structuring their thoughts through the use of word problems. Giving children a daily word problem challenged and introduced them to the lesson. This activity…

This paper reports on a study as one aspect of research being conducted to document ways the Arts Connections Program (Cincinnati, Ohio) makes a difference in student learning. The study examines the effects of Arts Connections on higher order thinking and learning to learn skills of sixth-grade students (n=27) in 2 classrooms. One classroom, the…

The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) was examined to see if the items on a form could be divided into different subgroups in which items looked statistically similar within the subgroups but statistically different between subgroups. Of such subgrouping can be detected, it is likely that the subgroups of items measure different abilities, and the…

This is a prewriting activity for personal memoir or autobiographical writing. Grade 6-8 students brainstorm for important memories, create graphics or symbols for their most important memories, and construct a life map on tag board or construction paper, connecting drawings and captions of high and low points with a highway. During four 50-minute…

This paper presents descriptive research comparing levels of cognitive and reflective development among preservice and inservice teachers. A question about the effectiveness of the state educational reform law was used to collect data identifying student reflection levels. The question was presented as a written assignment to undergraduates in an…

This book contains volume 1 of the proceedings of the 23rd annual meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) held October, 2001 in Snowbird, Utah. Papers include: (1) "Opening the Dimensions of Mathematical Capability: The Development of Knowledge, Practice and Identity in Mathematics Classrooms"…

This document contains the proceedings of 1999 annual meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG). Papers include: (1) "Mathematics Lecture I: The Impact of Technology on the Doing of Mathematics" (Jonathan Borwein); (2) "Mathematics Lecture II: The Decline and Rise of Geometry in 20th Century North America" (Walter…

This learning module aims to engage students in problem solving, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and cooperative learning. The module is appropriate for use in any introductory or intermediate undergraduate course that focuses on human-environment relationships. The module provides students with a broad overview of the human dimensions of…