This project examines the development of programs and strategies to help teachers include a variety of instructional behaviors that will, in turn, stimulate many kinds of student thinking. A voluntary group of teachers formed study teams to learn the Dimensions of Learning Model and implement strategies from the model in their classrooms. The…

The psychometric properties of objective tests administered in two testing conditions were compared, using an experimental take-home testing condition and a traditional in-class testing condition. Subjects were 290 college students in a basic educational psychology course who took a test developed and tested the previous semester. Two equivalent…

This study examined whether preservice teachers can infer the major concepts that a subject uses in his or her thinking on complex problems if the subject thinks out loud. Twenty-six students in a teacher certification program, 17 college graduates with 5 years of full-time work experience, and 16 college graduates with 10 years of full-time work…

An English teacher at Hokkaido International School, Japan, guided his students through the writing process of thinking up ideas for writing topics and developing and revising those ideas into competent works. The class was composed of seven non-native speakers (in grades nine through twelve) who tried to achieve fluency in English within the…

This book reviews alternative assessment. Suggestions include portfolios, interviews, observations, journals, and tests utilizing various rubrics. This book contains suggestions and materials that teachers can use to assess students' progress in problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Many performance tasks and problem-specific rubrics for…

This conference proceedings volume for PME-NA-XIX contains a total of 87 reports: one plenary session report; 39 research reports; 20 short oral reports; 25 poster session reports; and two discussion group reports. Only the plenary and research reports are full reports; the others are generally one-page abstracts. The full reports include: (1)…

Teachers' reactions to the administration and scoring of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program tests (MSPAP) were studied, focusing on their direct and indirect exposure to tasks and evaluative criteria through the experience of scoring the MSPAP. Since its inception in 1991, the MSPAP has been scored in-state by certified teachers…

The practicum described in this report was designed to make a significant difference in increasing students' language expression by assisting teachers with the appropriate techniques to incorporate effectively the writing process in an integrated language arts curriculum. The target group consisted of 150 fourth-grade students and the 5…

Noting that recent developments in computer technology facilitate the integration of media in literacy development, this paper reviews 18 items of courseware designed to promote literacy development within a whole language framework. The reviews are divided into four sections dealing with the following topics: (1) idea processors and the…

In an attempt to improve its students' writing abilities, as well as their critical thinking skills, Lord Fairfax Community College, in Virginia, developed a program called "Thinking through Writing." The project designers believed that concept formation, classification, memory enhancement, and other learning/thinking skills could be…

Building on the assumption that the most important skill for the future is the ability to think, an initial framework for an intellectual processes curriculum theory is described. A definition of intellectual processes is formulated first: Intellectual processes are those mental operations that enable one to acquire new knowledge, apply that…

The primary purposes of the outcomes and accompanying benchmarks for kindergarten through grade 12 social studies in Kansas public schools are to help students become responsible, productive citizens and to help students achieve a sense of personal fulfillment. The outcomes process, standards, and assessment emphasize higher-order thinking skills.…

Arguments for replacing standardized multiple choice tests with performance assessment that encourages teachers to devote more attention to higher order skills, and thus results in increased student achievement, are based on three assumptions: (1) the teaching profession, key decision makers, and parents will accept performance assessment measures…

The study discussed in this paper examined changes which occurred during the student teaching experience of elementary education majors regarding their ability to teach selected critical thinking skills. Data were obtained from student teachers (N=45) immediately before and after their student teaching experience. Self-confidence was measured by…

This practicum was designed to help third grade students develop critical thinking skills of application, analysis, and synthesis in social studies activities. Teachers were unhappy with the teaching of social studies as it existed. Among the contributing causes were the lack of a critical thinking program, an over-dependence on commercially…