This article describes the PROVE strategy, which provides students with learning disabilities with a procedure for naming a concept, providing evidence (both why and how), and defending it. Research results are presented that indicate students with (n=12) and without (n=26) disabilities benefited from the PROVE strategy. (Contains references.) (CR)

Explains that narrative history is usually the focus in history instruction but contends that argument-based history should be taught instead. Views argumentation as a means for engaging students actively in historical interpretation where the students can express the higher order thinking skills that interpretation entails. Provides examples of…

Examined the development of critical reflection in preservice secondary social studies teachers during one student teaching semester. Using action research, the study investigated student teachers' deliberation about the ethical and moral basis of their work as teachers and reflection on the broader social conditions of teaching. Results revealed…

Findings from observations of 64 8- and 9-year olds show that the use of exploratory talk, talking in which joint reasoning is made explicit, can improve group reasoning and that this exploratory talk can be taught and can transfer between educational contexts. Teaching exploratory talk also improved results on a nonverbal reasoning test. (SLD)

Authors were conducting research in different disciplines and carrying it out by apparently different methods. This combined paper is a reaction to their mutual discovery that the theories used by each to examine the data have interesting similarities. The two projects studied encouraged creative strategies and evaluative reflection in the…

Describes the genesis of a developmental critical-thinking course offered at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) that melds two imperatives: to provide a comprehensive developmental-education program and to satisfy the critical-thinking requirements of the job market and the university. Provides some preliminary evaluation results from faculty…

Describes a study that measured the disposition toward critical thinking of freshmen enrolled in California State University's (Northridge) College of Business Administration and Economics. Reports: (1) a positive tendency toward critical thinking for these students; (2) no significant differences in this tendency among ethnic groups; and (3) no…

Four-year curriculum-development project involving computing teachers from Scottish schools focused on methods of teaching and assessing computer-program skills at the secondary 3/4 level (14- to 16-year-olds) and the professional development of participants. Findings show that curriculum development can enhance teachers' professional development,…

Argues that reliance on the outcome of quantitative standardized tests to assess student performance is misplaced quest for certainty in an uncertain world. Reviews and lauds Canadian teacher-devised qualitative diagnostic tool, "Profiles of Student Behaviors," composed of 20 behavioral patterns in student knowledge, attitude, and skill.…

This article follows a secondary school social studies teacher in Alabama through five years of working to integrate technology and constructivism into his classroom. Results show successes in helping students gain new skills or enhance existing skills in technology, critical thinking, collaboration, presentation, and self-learning. (Author/LRW)

Investigated the impact of parental substance abuse on development of children in foster care. Found that although foster children presented low average cognitive scores, they improved significantly in cognitive functioning during placement. Children with prenatal drug exposure scored significantly lower but made more progress than other children…

Explores nine myths about questioning techniques for teachers in social studies, such as questioning does not require planning, higher-level cognitive questions elicit higher-level answers, and teachers give students enough time to answer. Offers an alternative, with a description of its application, to each myth. (CMK)

This study investigated gender differences in kindergarteners' literacy skills, specifically, whether differences in children's classroom behaviors explained females' early learning advantage. Data included information on 16,883 kindergartners (8,701 boys and 8,182 girls) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of…

Designing inquiry-based-learning with and for university students develops problem-solving skills and logical reasoning, as well as reflective thinking. It involves working as a member of a team, questioning, being creative, shaping the skills for continued intellectual development. It is argued that inquiry-based group work is one of the most…

The purpose of this scholarship of teaching research is to assess the effectiveness of a cross-cultural problem-solving assignment in two senior-level family and consumer sciences courses at the University of Wyoming. We focus on the development of selected cognitive and affective critical-thinking skills in undergraduates and their international…