This concluding commentary takes the perspective of research on practicing scientists and engineers to consider what open areas and future directions on relational thinking and learning should be considered beyond the impressive research presented in the special issue. Areas for more work include (a) a need to examine educational applications of…

"It is essential that we match our methodology with the psychology of the adolescent and as this changes throughout adolescence, so should our approach." Mike Waski provides an understanding of how to approach mathematics at the adolescent level from the perspective of the developmental characteristics of the age. Sharing observations…

This paper focuses directly on mathematics teaching practice at university level, exploring "what teachers do and think daily, in class and out, as they perform their teaching work" (Speer et al. in "The Journal of Mathematical Behavior," 29, 99-114, 2010, p. 99). It is based on a small corpus of research conducted from…

Classroom decisions are ethically significant. Increasingly, U.S. teachers and students are pressured to follow rules. Drawing on the works of Hannah Arendt, I argue that to make ethical decisions, teachers need to think. To make this claim, I first describe the current emphasis on rules. I then give an overview of Arendt's arguments regarding…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how 2 important stakeholder groups of Southern California business education, regional faculty and employers of accounting graduates, defined and assessed critical thinking skills. Methods: A literature review identified 2 key variables--conceptualization and operational assessment of critical…

This report provides a content comparison for the 2002 Series GED® test and the current GED® for the following test topic areas: (1) Mathematical Reasoning; (2) Reasoning through Language Arts; (3) Science; and (4) Social Studies.

Independent and original thinking are the concepts which define critical thinking. A critical thinker doesn't passively accept other people's views and thoughts, on the contrary he constitutes his own thoughts by analyzing them. This independence liberates his mind, heart and actions (Doganay and Ünal, 2006). In this context, the definition of…

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) mathematics items measure critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, and the ability to apply skills and knowledge to real-world problems. Students are asked to solve problems involving the key knowledge and skills for their grade level as identified by the Common Core…

How well are Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) students prepared for problem-solving, scientific reasoning, and critical thinking? (1) WCPSS schools out-performed both the U.S., national, and international averages in each core subject of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): mathematics, reading, and science; and (2) overall,…

The authors who are mathematics teacher educators, have found that classifying, composing, and transforming shapes (in particular, rotations and reflections) are areas of difficulty for adults as well as for children. However, these are also some of the most important geometric ideas. They are fundamental topics in the K-8 Geometry and Measurement…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This manuscript discusses how learning theories have been applied to shape multiple aspects of the design of curricular activities combining interactive computer simulations and University of Washington style tutorials (so-called simulation-tutorials).…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This paper discusses the theoretical framework and curriculum materials that form the basis of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning and teaching physics. ISLE, as a philosophical approach to learning, has two core…

As we consider art education for future generations, we envision a change in focus from the "product," or artwork, to the artistic "process"--the thinking behind the artwork. How can we be so sure this shift of priorities is afoot? Indicators in general education point to thinking dispositions as the goal of learning (Costa…

How do language instructors fulfill institutional mandates while also nurturing students' interest? What becomes of this process when it unfolds not in one class meeting but in a series of pedagogical events? Classroom research has suggested the importance of integrating authentic, conversational, and rapport-building talk with instructional…

The fact that Turkey's achievement in large-scale international examinations is not at the expected level is associated with such factors as students, teachers, schools, curricula and assessment approaches. The literature links student-related causes mainly to their lack of higher-order thinking skills; and teacher-related causes to incompetency…