Two studies of 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds assessed the effect on cognitive development produced by varying degrees of physical isolation of family dwellings and the consequent variation in the amount of verbal communication children had with peers and adults. (JMB)

Author describes utilizing both cerebral hemispheres of the brain (the intuitive-metaphoric and rational-logical mind) in teaching science so that creativity in students can be fostered. (BR)

This paper describes an attempt to incorporate the social psychological phenomenon of trait inference into existing developmental theory - principally the developmental system of Piaget. This goal is accomplished by examining the trait of inferences of children developmentally to establish the structural requirements of the process in terms of…

Critical or creative thinking is simply thinking of a higher order by persons informed by fact and logic, insight and empathy. It is necessary for problem solving, invention, and achievement. Every child has the ability to be a thinker. Thinking is an act and, as such, improves with practice. The curriculum and the teacher can help student…

This paper describes some methods found to be successful in helping students learn two major thinking strategies: making and supporting generalizations, and argumentation. The paper includes sample materials involving a variety of different subject areas to provide ideas about activities that work with students at a variety of ability and grade…

One of the issues facing educators is the increasing number of nontraditional students appearing in the college classroom. Recent conceptualizations of adult reasoning have suggested that there are qualitative differences in reasoning from young to late adulthood. The objective of this study was to examine cognitive differences rather than…

The research reported in this paper is concerned with the ability of students of English as a second language (ESL) to apply cognitive skills in reading. The paper focuses on: (1) a validation study of an experimental test designed to measure Piagetian concrete operations in reading and (2) the effects of the paragraph types (additive or…

High school debate style should emphasize persuasion, information, and logic above other skills. Recent trends, such as excessive speed of delivery and excessive amounts of evidence used in debate, have tended to inhibit the effective acquisition of those skills for students. Potential methods for moderating speed and evidence use are not allowing…

The emphasis on promoting thinking skills in the classroom has fostered several trends, tendencies, and tensions. This movement has taken three directions: the teaching of thinking, teaching for thinking, and teaching about thinking. In the first, thinking is regarded as a process of developing a set amount of skills. The proponents of this…

A study examined whether intercollegiate debating enhances the critical thinking ability of participants and investigated whether users of the two existing styles--National Debate Tournament (NDT) and Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA)--differed significantly from each other and from nondebaters in their critical thinking skills. Four…

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of reasoning of a convenience sample of all seventh through twelfth grade students (N=156) in a consolidated school district in rural Arkansas prior to the introduction of a thinking program in which logical thinking is one component. Four research questions were investigated: (1) What…

Responding to the Colorado State Board of Education's request for recommendations concerning the need to improve humanities instruction and its relationship to the development of higher-order thinking skills, this task force report specifies a scope for humanities teaching; defines higher-order thinking skills as the ability to judge information,…

This paper describes a chemistry professor's approach to teaching mathematics in the college classroom. Based on the assumption that the four main goals of the educational process in general are to teach students to communicate clearly, study regularly, master basic math skills, and think logically, a description is provided of the manner in which…

This paper examines the area of teachers' practical arguments (arugments consisting in the search for a plan of action), considering questions such as: How does rationality manifest itself in practice, and in specific human practices like teaching? Is practical reasoning in teaching moral? Do values of theoretical reasoning, such as universality,…

Intended as a resource for teachers of grades four and up who are eager to improve their students' thinking skills while teaching their regular curriculum, this booklet contains activities that can be used to teach a new concept or to review a previously taught skill. Following an introduction, the topics of the chapters of the resource guide and…