A group of 116 Finnish fifth- through ninth-graders used a problem-solving technology and crafts curriculum with computers; a control group (n=151) used traditional crafts curriculum and instruction. Results for motor skill development, technical knowledge, and emotional engagement suggest that all students should receive a balanced curriculum of…

Contrasts students' presymbolic and symbolic procedures in generalizing activities. Uses the semiotic-cultural theoretical approach and focuses on the role of body, discourse, and signs when students refer to mathematical objects. Identifies types of generalizations and discusses a specific kind of rupture in the ostensive gestures and…

Examines the process through which students learn to make functional use of computer algebra systems (CAS) and the interaction between that process and the wider mathematical development of students. Highlights important challenges that arise in instrumenting classroom mathematical activity and instrumentalizing CAS correspondingly. Reveals…

Describes an inquiry-based teaching method implemented in an undergraduate exercise physiology laboratory course. Indicates students' strong, positive feelings about the inquiry-based teaching method and shows that inquiry-based learning results in a higher order of learning not typically observed in traditional style classes. This teaching method…

Studied adolescents' (N=163) formal operational reasoning in relation to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) knowledge, AIDS fear, sexual knowledge, and reactions to AIDS victims. Found that advanced reasoning predicted better AIDS knowledge and general sexual knowledge. Advanced reasoning and AIDS knowledge were also linked with heightened…

This study found that 33 children (ages 7-16) with learning disabilities were deficient in their inferential skills compared to normally achieving children but were not deficient in the metacognitive skill of paying attention to errors. Results also indicated that LD children do not constitute a homogeneous group. (JDD)

Analogical reasoning processes were studied in 16 language-impaired children and 16 controls, age 6-8. Children who heard only verbal presentations of problems took longer to acquire problem solutions than children who simultaneously viewed physical demonstrations of the problems. There were no differences in transfer task performance. (Author/JDD)

The Test of Problem Solving (TOPS) was evaluated by 20 speech-language clinicians based on designer claims that the test assesses integration of semantic, linguistic, and reasoning ability and taps skills needed for academic and social acceptance. Results challenged the content validity of the test. (Author/DB)

Concern about curriculum has produced its own subgenre of national reform reports covering the core subjects (science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts). Common themes include curriculum integration, emphasis on thinking skills, more rigorous content for all students, influence from outside groups, and acknowledgement of standardized…

Discussion of the use of databases to improve students' thinking skills focuses on a database developed for teaching world geography to middle school and high school students. Research on developing information processing skills is discussed, a sample unit in the world geography project is presented, and results of field testing are described.…

Examines the theoretical underpinnings of the debate on the transferability of critical thinking skills and discusses methods of fostering critical thinking in the classroom. The foremost task in teaching critical thinking is fostering in students habits of inquiry which lead to a disposition to seek intellectual, moral, and social integration.…

Results of this study indicate that the cognitive behavior modification technique of self-instruction is effective and appropriate as a means of improving the basal reading academic task performance of first-grade children (N=57) in a school setting. (IAH)

Describes an informal assessment procedure that uses think alouds (readers' verbal self-reports about their thinking processes) to obtain information about how they attempt to construct meaning from text. (MG)

Comparison of the process of problem solving using a conventional procedural computer programing language (e.g., BASIC, Logo, Pascal), with the process when using a logic programing language (i.e., Prolog), focuses on the potential of the two types of programing languages to facilitate the transfer of problem-solving skills, cognitive development,…

Examines the place of mental models in the process of knowledge construction, particularly by the relationship between mental models and computer models in that process. Analyzes and discusses children's use of spreadsheets to build their own computer models. Suggests that the process of building models on a computer may provide direct support to…