This article scrutinises one of the mainstream views of how one grows into responsible membership of society; the view based on Jürgen Habermas', Lawrence Kohlberg's and Jean Piaget's theories. Habermas praises Kohlberg's and Piaget's psychological theories and uses them as empirical sources crucial for his theoretical work. We argue that this…

Teaching our successors about the art of theory building can be a challenge. If you have taught a theory-building course in any of our fields, you may have experienced a common hazard: The seminar can devolve into yet another methods course when the more methodologically inclined take over, focusing the class's attention on the flaws in tests of…

At the college level, it can be difficult to engage students outside the classroom through the use of effective homework assignments. Although it is straightforward to create assignments that test the ability to carry out computations as discussed in class, it is more challenging to create assignments that encourage students to think more…

How students' rigid perceptions of mathematics persist over years has been a conundrum. Students not only think that only one solution exists for a mathematical task (Schoenfeld 1985) but also rigidly fuse mathematical concepts with specific tasks. Students deserve to learn a variety of mathematical strategies to flexibly deploy at will. Teaching…

We expect our students to learn different ways of thinking, such as historical empathy or scientific reasoning, reflection, critical analysis, or clinical reasoning. But how do we discern if they have learned these ways of thinking when thinking is often abstract, tacit and seemingly invisible? In this conceptual and theoretical article, I argue…

The aim of this article is to provide a theoretical framework to strengthen design thinking and practice in the context of teaching through productive processes and using it to generate knowledge. The article explores three modes of inquiry inspired by Dewey and based on Schön, Barab & Squire and DiSalvo to investigate academic inquiry in…

Environmental education (EE) practitioners struggle to consistently and rigorously evaluate their programs, particularly when little time is available for evaluation. Since environmental literacy (EL) is the goal of environmental education, a very short EL instrument -- amenable to use when longer tests are not practical for practitioners -- would…

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between reflective thinking skills and academic success in mathematics in fourth-grade primary school students. The data were collected using the "Reflective Thinking Skills Scale" developed by Demirbas (2012), and the "Personal Information Form" developed by…

The benefits of an optimistic thinking style have slowly been seeping into early childhood teaching practice through research on resiliency, leadership, health, and what has been termed "grit." Yet there remains a large vacuum in teacher education on both the importance and mechanics of teaching young children to become optimistic…

In philosophy, "aporia" refers to a philosophical puzzle or a seemingly insoluble impasse in an inquiry. In philosophical discussions with elementary school children, the author uses questions not just to uncover hidden assumptions the children may have, but to lead them to a place of "aporia" -- puzzlement, a place of…

Environmental issues needed a lot of attention especially from high school students, and their skill in solving environmental problem is important for the future. This research was aimed to discover a profile of students' analytical skills toward environmental issues. Three hundred twenty-nine high school students in coastal area are involved.…

Teachers often encountered difficulties or even failure in conducting the classroom due to the students' inability to understand the learning materials. Most students find it's challenging to associate their existing knowledge with the new one because of the learning setting that they generally have. Teachers do not consider it important to set…

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between mathematics thinking sub-dimensions (higher order thinking, reasoning, mathematical thinking and problem-solving) and critical thinking disposition. In addition, this study investigated whether mathematical thinking sub-dimensions are significant predictors of critical thinking…

Studies indicate that the failure of science education to meet the needs of the 21st century is to some extent due to the inability to incorporate scientific reasoning and higher order assessments in the school instruction. Though the outcomes of education seek higher-order thinking abilities there is a lack of high ability assessments in…

Purpose: This preliminary study aimed to investigate teacher self-efficacy over a one-year period under a project called "Professional development to enhance student thinking and problem-solving skills." Teachers' self-efficacy was focused due to the fact that personal belief in one's capabilities to complete tasks or achieve goals or…