The computer has enormous potential for enhancing the secondary trigonometry curriculum. Areas that can be improved through use of the computer include: solutions of triangles, inductive investigations of functions, graphs of functions, and solution of trigonometric identities. (JN)

Enumerates six arguments against teaching developmental students thinking skills. Counterposes such arguments as "It takes too much time" and "Basic skills should take priority over thinking skills" with 12 attributes which, if developed, enhance students' ability to learn, choose, and act effectively, e.g., seeing relationships and analyzing…

Contends that cognitive skills can and should be taught. Cites supportive studies. Describes two of the four clinical modules forming Rockland Community College's developmental sequence. Examines objectives of the Effective Listening and Logic and Reasoning modules and procedures used in the courses. Looks at student resistance to cognitive skills…

A methodology to analyze the cognitive content and the focus of residents' thoughts during conversations between faculty members and residents is discussed. Results suggest that effective supervision may relate to the ability of faculty members to display their reasoning as they present information. (Author/MLW)

Graduates and their employers rated a master- or diploma-level program in business administration along nine skill development dimensions: initiative, judgment, contact, expression, control, decision making, leadership, problem solving, and problem diagnosis. Cognitive skills were perceived as more successfully developed than instrumental skills.…

In the field of science, the meaning of insight can be understood by looking at theories which deal with universal laws that have fundamental significance for the totality of matter, independently of conditions of time and space. (JN)

Conservation judgments are based on a combination of logical necessity and empirical belief. Results of two experiments support the view that the logical aspect of conservation is developmentally stable, while the empirical aspect varies widely across problems and individuals because of its dependence on relevant experience. (Author/RD)

The lack of a philosophical teaching approach in social studies is partly due to the lack of exposure students have had to philosophy in preparatory programs and partly due to a lack of preparation for teachers in college. (JN)

Two ongoing projects illustrate alternative delivery systems for translating educational theory into action. The curriculum classification system focuses on organizing the learning environment for personalizing and individualizing instruction. The second system explores the relation of thinking skills to academic performance and stresses the…

Between 24 and 26 children in each of grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 (with mean ages of 8.5, 10.2, 13.0, 15.0, and 16.6 years, respectively) were tested in their ability to solve linear syllogisms. (Author/MP)

Discusses research attempting to identify difficulties experienced by undergraduate chemistry students in performing specific logical operations at the formal level as described or implied by Inhelder and Piaget. (BT)

Mathematical problems generated by 509 middle school students who were given story-problem descriptions and asked to pose questions that could be answered using the information were examined for solvability, linguistic and mathematical complexity, and relationships within the sets of posed problems. The multiple-step data analysis scheme can be…

Two experiments investigated kindergarten through fourth-graders' and adults' ability to evaluate the certainty of deductive inferences, inductive inferences, and guesses, and explain the origins of inferential knowledge. Findings indicated that children rated their own deductions as more certain than guesses, but when judging another person's…

A study of 348 Canadian students (grades 6-8) identified as gifted by domain-general criteria, investigated whether the students would score at similar levels on linguistic, logical/mathematical, and social/emotional measures or whether their scores would indicate domain-differentiated patterns of development. Results indicate the students had…

Investigates uses of interactive geometry software to enhance students' understanding and reasoning about two-dimensional shapes. Describes basic principles that underlie high-quality geometry instruction. Presents examples that illustrate how appropriate use of dynamic software can enhance students' geometric reasoning. (KHR)