The confounding of chronological and educational age and of schooling and socioeconomic status are persistent problems in the study of the cognitive consequences of schooling. The educational system among the Kharwar in India provides a natural experiment to overcome these problems, since it shows neither source of confounding. The sample…

Recent concern over the standard of social work practice, as evidenced by inquiries into child abuse cases, have led to something of a crisis in trust in the profession. As a result, there is now an emphasis on increasing practitioners' competency to practice in complex situations. Critical reflection is seen as key to achieving this increase in…

This paper explicates a pattern of scientific argumentation in which scientists respond to causal questions with the generation and test of alternative hypotheses through cycles of hypothetico-predictive argumentation. Hypothetico-predictive arguments are employed to test causal claims that exist on at least two levels (designated stage 4 in which…

With testing and accountability on everyone's mind, teachers are looking for creative ways to teach "all" subjects. Literacy is on the top of the list for testing, so it seems to get top priority. But how can teachers make sure that mathematics, especially a crucial area such as algebraic thinking, is a priority as well? Integrating subject matter…

An important outcome of Singapore's education system is the development of creative thinking skills. This project investigates the impact of a creative dance unit on a class of Primary One (seven-year-old) children's usage of bodily kinaesthetic intelligence to solve problems. One key objective was for the researchers to observe something new,…

Children and teachers may not think in the same way about particular science concepts. Such parallel lines of thought can compound children's confusion and misunderstanding as they learn science at primary school. The situation could be more acute when student teachers are teaching science, because of their limited experience of considering…

This article reports and discusses the findings of the collective case study of two primary schools in Singapore. It is part of a larger funded research project that examines and analyses where and how information and communication technologies (ICT) are integrated in Singapore schools to develop pupils' higher order thinking skills. The focus of…

Life Space Crisis Intervention converts a conflict into a meaningful learning experience for the student by discovering what drives his/her behavior and by defining clear outcome goals. Aggression Replacement Training teaches alternatives to problematic behavior. The collaborative use of ART and LSCI is an effective strategy, specifically in stage…

This study investigated the contributions of students' reasoning ability and meaningful learning orientation to their understanding of the photosynthesis and respiration in plants concepts. Data were gathered through the use of the Test of Logical Thinking (Tobin & Capie, 1981), the Learning Approach Questionnaire (Cavallo, 1996), and the Two-Tier…

The Cognitive Acceleration in Mathematics Education (CAME) project aims to improve children's thinking in mathematics and to enhance their achievement. The learning theory underpinning it is described as "Piaget and Vygotsky in tandem", together with a theory of professional development involving networks of teachers and direct modelling…

This article describes how music in the language classroom setting can be a catalyst for developing reading, writing, and understanding skills. Studies suggest that pairing music and linguistic intelligences in the college classroom improves students' grades and abilities to compose theses statements for research papers in courses that emphasize…

This 3-year longitudinal study examined how motivational tendencies, that is, task orientation and social dependence orientation, as well as cognitive-linguistic prerequisites of reading and math skills (i.e., phonological awareness, rapid naming, oral language comprehension skills, number sequence and basic arithmetic skills) measured in…

The objective of this study was to examine the nature of preservice teachers' evaluations of elementary mathematics problems using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (MTF), a model designed to discriminate among tasks according to their cognitive complexity. We also tested the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and problem length on…

This paper reports on a pilot research project aimed at helping to develop some strategic and reasoning abilities in primary school pupils by engaging them in educational itineraries based on the use of a number of computer mind games. The paper briefly describes the project's aims and organization, the kind of games used and the working…

Purpose: This study explores the relationship between age and resting-state regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in regions associated with higher order language skills using a population of normal children, adolescents, and young adults. Method: rCBF was measured in 33 normal participants between the ages of 7 and 19 years using single photon…