Discusses the activities of Junior Achievement of Georgia in its efforts to promote economic education. Describes programs developed on economics: a textbook, workbook exercises, a student company activity, computer based simulation, and a business consultancy. Explains the development of a curriculum for kindergarten through sixth grade and…

The relationship between teacher performance related to student essential skills achievement and teacher performance related to student acquisition of higher order thinking skills was examined for 19 secondary school teachers. Effects of a training program in teaching higher order skills and relationships between teacher knowledge and practice…

Describes the rationale and activities developed and tested by the Biology Critical Thinking project (BCT). Presents the project guidelines for developing activities, a list of skills selected as goals of BCT, instruments used in determining effectiveness of the activities, results of the pilot study, and a sample activity involving vitamins. (MDH)

The ability of children to solve measurement problems was studied in 2 experiments with 190 children aged 6 through 10 years in Oxford (England). Results suggest that in designing instruction both conceptual difficulties and difficulties that relate to particular measurement practice must be studied. The role of culturally transmitted measurement…

Describes the development of teachers' pedagogical thinking based on a five-year study of four beginning elementary teachers involved in the University of California Berkeley's Developmental Teacher Education Program. All four teachers developed in their pedagogical thinking during preservice and continued to develop during their first three years…

Book review discusses Howard Gardner's belief that schools typically fail in their most important missions, and accurate diagnosis is necessary for more effective education. Gardner recommends educating disciplinary experts who can help students integrate prescholastic and scholastic ways of knowing. A response by Gardner is included. (SM)

Children's analogical reasoning has traditionally been measured by classical four-term analogy tasks or problem-solving tasks. Current theories of analogical development and the evidence on which they are based are reviewed. It is concluded that structural views of analogical development are wrong, and knowledge-based accounts of what develops are…

A peer coaching program in Georgia involved 22 elementary teachers as participants in professional development to stimulate their cognitive development. Teachers learned the peer coaching process, then participated in four coaching cycles. The program raised their conceptual levels, reduced teacher isolation, and developed more positive attitudes…

Offers six suggestions to help elementary teachers create cross-curricular adventures in learning that begin with science. The article includes a chart on process skills across the curriculum, a list of resources, and suggested class activities. (SM)

Defines wait time as the length of time teachers wait for answers from students after asking a question. Maintains that increasing wait time can stimulate reflective thinking and student involvement. Reviews the research literature on wait time studies in science education. Finds that student responses improve and participation expands with…

Researchers examined cognitive processes used to construct meaning from narrative text in successful and less successful ninth grade readers. A coding system analyzed think-aloud protocols students recorded while reading two stories. Students were primarily story-driven readers. Differences between stories rarely affected their responses.…

Study synthesized the practical wisdom of 25 staff developers nationwide who worked with high school teachers in the area of thinking to determine whether they had an informal knowledge base. Though they offered diverse perspectives, they agreed on several key goals, activities, and organizational changes. (SM)

Nine articles in this theme issue discuss the fundamentals of good teaching, motivating students, how to become a successful teacher, teacher influence, the importance of setting long-range goals, the need for emphasis on thinking and writing skills, effective laboratory teaching, and surviving the first year of teaching. (JOW)

Relates bibliographic instruction concepts to the teaching of legal research at the undergraduate level and describes a conceptual framework for teaching legal research and critical thinking skills to a journalism class. Legal research instruction for law students is also described, the expected retention level is considered, and the librarian's…

Described is research which sought to prove the hypothesis that mental models tend to preserve their autonomy with regard to the originals they are meant to represent. The results of this investigation involving 200 Israeli students are presented. (CW)