The Talents Unlimited (TU) critical and creative thinking skills model is designed to help teachers recognize and nurture the multiple talents of all children. Research based on the work of Calvin Taylor, has identified high-level talent areas of productive thinking, communication, forecasting, decision making, and planning, in which all excel to…

This booklet for parents explains the Talents Unlimited (TU) program, a program that is designed to help students use more of their thinking powers. Research is showing that students possess potential for many kinds of thinking abilities that are important for success in the world of work as well as in school. These talents include, in addition to…

The Talents Unlimited (TU) is designed to help teachers recognize and nurture the multiple talents of children. Research based on the work of Calvin Taylor has identified high level talents in which all people excel to varying extents. Taylor has suggested a grouping of talents based on the needs of the world-of-work, specifying the academic…

This book brings a philosophical perspective to the topic of children's thinking. It attempts to answer the questions of what it is to think and understand, and how children do so. The book provides an introduction to the philosophy of education as it relates to children's understanding, and is careful not to assume any previous philosophical…

In response to recent stress on incorporating core thinking into subject curriculum, the mediated learning experience (MLE) is being incorporated into the preservice training modules of the Singapore National Institute of Education (NIE). This study examines: (1) factors contributing to the preservice teacher's commitment to using MLE; (2)…

A study was conducted to examine the effects of structured interactions in conferences and journals on the cognitive complexity of adult educators. The specific focus was the effects of the use of specific dialogue patterns within reflective conversations and of structured response patterns in journals on the cognitive processes of mentors and…

This report describes a workshop on developing a set of three introductory mathematics courses using new pedagogical techniques and computer technology. The courses provide underprepared students with multiple entry points into the study of mathematics and serve as a gateway for students' continued study of mathematics. These workshop courses in…

This paper discusses the elaboration and application of "scientific culture" categories to the analysis of students' discourse while solving problems in inquiry contexts. Scientific culture means the particular domain culture of science, the culture of science practitioners. The categories proposed include both epistemic operations and…

This paper explores a framework for research on the development of the angle concept based on theories of abstraction. The framework suggests that children initially acquire a body of disconnected angle knowledge situated in everyday experiences, group the situations to form angle contexts, and then form an abstract angle concept. The framework is…

Seventeen sixth and seventh grade inner city teachers participated in a knowledge-centered, technology-assisted, community-of-learners integrated approach to instructional experiences known as Schools for Thought (SFT). With the help of university staff, teachers received assistance in making professional change related to SFT instructional and…

To help educators better understand how to prepare reflective teachers, this study examined four preservice elementary teachers' theories regarding how elementary children learn and what instruction should look like. Participants designed and implemented learning activities for elementary students. Each activity was videotaped, observed, and…

A study investigated the critical reasoning skills of a group of 111 Australian adult tertiary students who were practicing adult vocational and further education teachers and trainers, using the recently developed Critical Reasoning Test (CRT). It examined some variables that might be expected to affect critical reasoning scores. These tertiary…

This staff development kit is the second in a series designed that provides school-based staff development activities. The first kit contains materials, activities, and suggestions to help faculty with early efforts to implement the middle school concept. This kit provides various tools and techniques to improve the quality of teachers'…

Redesigned to reflect a more standards-driven as opposed to course-driven approach, the Applied Literature and Composition courses (I and II) described in this paper not only prepare the two-year college/technical school students for entering the real world of work, but also for post-secondary and college level work. It notes that the course is…

Research shows that introducing basic forms of algebraic reasoning in elementary school enhances children's learning of arithmetic. In this guide, a research and a professional development project are described that have taken a practical approach to introducing algebraic reasoning to elementary students in Massachusetts. (Author/SOE)