This study examined the relationship between environment-based education and high school students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Four hundred four 9th and 12th grade students from 11 Florida high schools participated in the study. A Pretest-Posttest Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (9th grade) and a…

With increasing importance being placed on the development of generic skills in higher education, institutions are espousing, as part of their mission and objectives, which generic skills their graduates achieve, and teachers are being required to document how their courses and programs support the development of those skills and attributes. The…

This study investigated first-year students' perceptions of their level of capability across several domains of generic skills and attributes. Factor analysis of students' ratings revealed that first-years categorize skills in ways that can be meaningfully related to job performance. While there were some differences in students' perceptions of…

The paper draws on an extensive literature search about the 'research-teaching nexus', insights from interviewing twelve university history lecturers about student progress in undergraduate degrees, and ideas about the role of disciplines in student learning to argue (i) that the educational goal for students of 'becoming a practising historian'…

This laboratory exercise encourages upper level biochemistry students to build and expand upon previously developed laboratory skills and knowledge as they conduct a comparison of two methods of plasmid preparation based upon cost, quality of product, production time, and environmental impact. Besides creating an environment that mimics a more…

When played in their standard form, striking/fielding games are often a favorite among elementary students; yet they allow for only limited participation, which is contradictory to quality physical education. This article presents a sequence of lessons leading to Batter's Choice, a modified striking/fielding game, designed to maximize the…

Development of reading skills was examined in 4-year-old children from low-income homes attending a prekindergarten program. Fall to spring gains in letter identification were examined and compared with skills in phonological processing, rhyme detection, and environmental print, and with performance on a screening tool ("Get Ready to Read"). It…

Preservice teachers and current teachers alike face daily challenges that necessitate problem-solving skills. Conducting problem solving as a part of a group of professionals and the child's family can be beneficial because it encourages the offering of many perspectives, which allows for better understanding of the problem context. However, a…

In this article, the author describes a way of motivating learners to solve and reflect upon mathematical problems. The author wanted to find ways to help the Y6 class with their KS2 SATs, but more importantly she wanted to develop their interest and skills in solving mathematical challenges. She spent some time working on the idea of a "…

This article discusses the importance of acquiring skills in college to prepare students for the work force. The author describes how college students lack the skills and character needed to succeed. They might take statistics in college and score A's on tests of abstract problem-solving, but they cannot set up a bar graph to display real-world…

In this article, the authors discuss how children develop their motor skills at different age levels. Newborn's movements are jerky and uncoordinated. Spending lots of floor time with a baby lying on her back or stomach helps her develop coordination, balance, and muscle strength during her earliest months. As locomotion enters a baby's life, she…

Educators of young children know how important children's social and emotional development is, not only in terms of developing empathy, compassion, friendships, confidence and the like, but also as an essential component of cognitive growth. As children gain skills in the social/emotional domain, they build language and problem-solving skills, as…

What happens when children pour water through a funnel? They begin to understand science and math concepts such as flow, force, gravity, and volume. What happens when children mold sand to create a tunnel? They develop skills in areas such as problem solving and predicting. They also gain knowledge about absorption and the properties of sand and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between singing achievement and developmental tonal aptitude for students in kindergarten through third grade. In addition, we investigated whether singing achievement differs according to grade level or school setting. Subjects (N = 162) were randomly selected kindergarten, first-,…

In this longitudinal study we analyse the early phases of reading development in Italian and explore the transition from phonological to lexical reading. A group of 28 Italian children was tested in four phases. Language and cognitive skills were first assessed in the preschool. Reading performance was then tested in three different sessions, in…