Presents a set of criteria for evaluating instructional programs intended to teach students to reason with economic concepts and principles. Develops evaluation criteria from recent information processing research on problem solving. Focuses on concepts that clarify how the thinking of experts and novices differs in a field like economics. (DK)

Reports a study which examined the effects of direct instruction on the think-aloud protocols of ninth grade readers. Students made think-aloud protocols on two stories before and after instruction. Although the instruction did not substantially affect students' interpretive operations in reading, some students were less submissive to the text.…

Offers excerpts from a California State Education Department publication on curriculum reform ("It's Elementary!") that describes what elementary school students should be learning in subject areas and highlights character education. The subject areas covered are language arts, mathematics, history-social science, and science. (JB)

Describes the Readings Text task, a method for evaluating history students. Explains that the students learn history through primary sources and learn critical thinking skills as they weigh the importance of different documents. Discusses the students' selection of historical topics, selection of primary sources, and a model document edited by a…

Reports on specific problem-solving difficulties of 240 chemistry teachers from 5 Nigerian states who volunteered to take part in 3 written tests and an interview. Describes the contrasts between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers, and discusses the pedagogical and psychological implications of the findings. (16 references) (JJK)

A more parsimonious interpretation of the factor structure of creativity tests than that afforded by the original study was found in this reanalysis of a study of 403 sixth graders by P. Merrifield, J. Guilford, and A. Gershon (1963). The prior analysis extracted and rotated too many factors. (SLD)

The syllogistic reasoning performance of Puerto Rican children in grades three through five was assessed in English and Spanish. The difference in formal reasoning in favor of Spanish was attributed to the additional processing demands imposed on children when they solve problems in their second language. (34 references) (Author/LB)

Describes efforts to move beyond formal education's preoccupation with data accumulation toward the promotion of thinking over memorization. Identifies 10 principles central to history instruction that encourages critical thinking and eight specific skills that history instruction can help develop. Argues that students can both acquire facts and…

Argues that multiple-choice tests, if correctly constructed, are still effective assessment tools. Focuses on constructing multiple-choice questions that address course content objectives but also require higher order thinking. Lists and defines concepts and curriculum objectives. Includes standard and database multiple-choice questions that offer…

Discusses the use of drawings to nurture problem-solving attitudes and independent learning. Drawings help develop thinking skills, clarify misconceptions, develop representational preferences, supply a context for relationships in K-8 mathematics, and illustrate mathematical connections. (MDH)

Describes a university professor's project with prospective elementary teachers who read "Global Mind Change" (Willis Harmon), a book about postmodern science. The project included a content analysis of students' papers regarding students' ideas about the effective incorporation of philosophical and humanistic thinking into elementary…

The Albany Law School (New York) first-year course, "Introduction to Lawyering," integrates two traditionally distinct programs: clinical legal studies and legal reasoning, writing, and research. Its objective is to offer a broad context in which to understand the lawyering process and to introduce essential professional skills and…

This paper reviews trends in research into creativity and describes the Profiling Project which is examining Creative Problem Solving (CPS), an ecologically based process model used to define problems, generate ideas, and refine solutions. Research into five dimensions of CPS are proposed: the situational outlook, personal orientation, outcomes,…

As educators target the articulation between university lower-division language acquisition courses and upper-division literature courses, higher order thinking and awareness of cognitive processes become increasingly important tools in bridging the gap. This article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of this issue and demonstrates the design…

Discusses procedures for the analysis of instructional strategies incorporated into distance learning materials, especially with regard to the development of higher order cognitive ability (i.e., critical thinking). Three approaches to task analysis are examined, including the learning hierarchy model, the concept hierarchy, and the information…