Outlines a procedure for teaching writing which helps students learn the content and thinking skills necessary for the reasoning and learning tasks required in the social studies. Sample lessons in a secondary American History course involve students in discussing, reading, problem solving, and synthesizing information. (KC)

Investigates whether the formal schemata and propositional logic are acquired gradually across age during adolescence, in agreement with Piaget's logical analysis of the structure of formal thought, or acquired in wholesale spurts, thus disagreeing with Piaget's theory. (GA)

Thought processes as they are observed during problem solving are discussed. A theoretical framework is designed to establish the correspondence between the tactics the subjects use to solve problems and thinking processes. (NCR)

The Essential Learning Skills Television Project is developing 60 15-minute programs and related print materials designed to blend and review math and language skills while focusing on the reasoning process. (Author/IRT)

Further replication using other test instruments and measured variables is suggested, but the results of two studies appear to support the view that providing rational ideas fosters mental health while providing psychodynamic insight does not. (Author)

At the college level, the obstacles to machine-testing of critical thinking are more pedagogical and practical than theoretical and include creating an operational definition, differentiating critical thinking skills and subskills, and establishing test reliability and validity. (MSE)

A study investigated the incremental value of a medical reasoning aptitude test to predict students' overall medical school performance and knowledge and clinical reasoning during preclinical years and clerkship performance. (MSE)

This article illustrates the flexibility and appropriateness of computer networks as an instructional resource for developing basic economic education programs for students with varying characteristics (e.g., public school students, home-bound adults, university-based students, and other adults, etc.). (CT)

Presents a comparative analysis of the psychometric properties of three group tests of logical thinking used in science education research. Findings dealing with Longeot's Test of Logical Thinking, Lawson's Test of Formal Reasoning, and Tobin and Capie's Test of Logical Thinking demonstrate a lack of concurrent validity. Includes recommendations.…

A study was undertaken to evaluate six adult courses, including four creativity-training courses and two university groups serving as controls. In the test groups, several significant improvements in test results were gained following the six-week courses, involving idea production, preference for complex stimuli, and creative independence.…

Suggests that business communication curricula should include instruction in critical thinking, and offers ways in which students can practice their critical thinking skills using business curricula. (JC)

There are important questions in communication disorders that fall outside the limits of science, such as questions concerning social/personal values, questions calling for logical analysis, and questions that wastefully use science because they emanate from a flimsy foundation or the answers would not affect understandings or behavior.…

Educators have shown great interest in teaching thinking in the last five years. This overview introduces thinking skills instruction as the theme of this issue of "Educational Leadership" and distinguishes three different approaches: teaching for thinking, teaching about thinking, and teaching of thinking. (TE)

The notion that thinking can be taught as a separate skill is a philosophical mistake. Teachers who are knowledgeable about their subject, who understand how it differs from other disciplines, and who can convey this to their students are already teaching thinking skills. (TE)

Describes five studies in which the learning and transfer abilities of two- and four-year-old children were examined on a task that required them to combine two separately learned solutions to reach a goal. (HOD)