Research on teachers' question-asking practices indicates that strategy utilizing both initial and follow-up questions helps students develop the ability to reason for themselves. Five types of follow-up questions discussed are questions seeking: (1) clarification; (2) evidence; (3) greater specificity; (4) a more appropriate focus; and (5)…

Examines the findings of 53 studies of sex differences in propositional logic, combinatorial reasoning, and proportional reasoning tasks. Finds sex differences for the latter two tasks to be vulnerable to Rosenthal's "file drawer" problem and effect size to be small for all tasks. Discusses possible explanations for sex differences in…

Describes the utilization of database management as a inquiry tool to aid higher-level thinking in a fourth-grade American Indian studies course. (MBR)

Condensing the teaching of cognitive strategies into a discrete instructional unit is self-defeating. Success in teaching thinking skills results when content objectives are contingent upon activities that also promote thinking and when thinking skills permeate the entire curriculum. (TE)

Many school administrator candidates enter the principalship with great potential, but sometimes lack the critical guidance to ensure success. With the many challenges facing principals daily, it is imperative for new and seasoned principals alike to remain informed, rejuvenated, and passionate about providing students with a quality education and…

In recent years, researchers have argued that the shortage of highly qualified teachers in poor school districts may have less to do with attracting new teachers than with retaining them. To provide the scientific evidence that will support sound decisions about teacher induction, Mathematica is examining whether high-intensity teacher induction…

Proof by mathematical induction is known to be conceptually difficult for high school students. This paper presents results from interviews with six experienced high school teachers, concerning the use of models in teaching mathematical induction. Along with creative and adequate use of models, we found explanations, models and examples that…

The purpose of this report is to investigate the range of student responses in three domains--hypothesizing, organizing data, and algebraic generalization of patterns during their work on a spreadsheet-based activity. In a wider context, we attempted to investigate students' utilization schemes of spreadsheets in their learning of introductory…

Since 1995, the University of California has been prohibited from employing affirmative action principles in student admissions. In response to this constraint, the UC has sought to pursue a number of other avenues for promoting the selection and retention of a diverse student body. In this paper we look at how officials and staff within the UC…

This article offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the structure of persuasive arguments. Following an introduction, the article contains five main parts, each of which is discussed extensively: (1) descriptions of ideas from the fields of law, communication theory, and argumentation theory that analyze the nature of persuasion and the structure…

A study investigated whether formal instruction in logic and syllogism construction helps English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)/English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students in crafting argumentative essays. Subjects were 24 ESL students of varied linguistic backgrounds at the Mercer University (Georgia) English Language Institute. Half were given…

Relational thinking is suggested as a major goal of elementary mathematics education and some problems purporting to induce relational thinking are suggested. (CS)

Hypothesizes that horizontal decalage, or the mastery of one task but not another formally similar to it, is an expected outgrowth of Piagetian theory. (MB)

Compared laboratory and naturalistic content influences on formal reasoning tasks of 90 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds, focusing on tasks requiring ability to control variables. Results indicate that 8 to 20 percent of performance variance was associated with task content. Content effects were also shown to reflect expectations about task variables.…