Noting that college-level critical thinking instruction is now an interdisciplinary movement coordinating such fields as English, rhetoric, philosophy, and developmental psychology, this digest surveys the history of critical thinking studies in these converging disciplines and argues that literature study preeminently encompasses the mental…

This Teacher Resource Manual (TRM) is designed to help teachers implement the Mathematics 20, 23, and 24 courses. The TRM is a support document that provides helpful information to classroom teachers. An overview of the Course of Studies for Mathematics 20/23 and 24 is provided at the beginning of each course section in the TRM. The overview…

An overview is presented of the epistemology of the three types of constructivism. Criticized is another interpretation of constructivism; it is stated that this interpretation is trivial, cognitively abridged, and disrespectful of students' capacities, creativity, and imagination. Constructivism has to go beyond saying that knowledge is…

Focusing on children's developmental use of written language in kindergarten and first grade, this report looks at connections between the social and academic dimensions of classroom life. The first section examines literacy as an aspect of growing up and becoming a member of society. By highlighting the social and academic divisiveness schooling…

This document consists of four research reports and one research note focusing on several aspects of the cognitive and emotional development of young children. The first article explores two theories of the relationship between cognition and emotion, reporting on an investigation of that relationship in a simple learning task involving 60 Japanese…

Using Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," John Knowles'"A Separate Peace," and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," a study examined the effects of Astute Activities--teaching techniques which increase students' cognitive ability and creativity--on student performance in two senior English classes in a small…

The 11 chapters comprising this work focus on the interactional influences that may be related to differential classroom experiences for males and females. The effects of contextual factors, teacher characteristics, and student characteristics are investigated. Addressed primarily to researchers, this information should prove useful to teachers,…

A study was conducted of 55 preschool children attending Title XX day care centers in Amarillo, Texas, to investigate the cognitive, language, fine motor, and socioemotional development of the children. Results indicated that the students were below the 50th percentile for their age group norms on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised, the…

In 1980, a study was conducted to evaluate the cognitive development of community college graduates. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. The control variables used in the analysis were three socioeconomic variables and scores on two standardized tests of verbal and mathematical achievement. The…

Theoreticians and empiricists have stressed the importance of organization in the learning process and, therefore, the importance of instructional strategies that help develop a child's ability to organize information. Theoreticians have also stressed the importance of the student's active participation in the learning process. The Directed…

Abstractor's analyses of 12 science education research studies focusing on science instruction are presented. These include: (1) use of Learning Environment Inventory in junior high school classrooms organized for individualized instruction; (2) microteaching and strategy analysis as used in a science methods course; (3) comparison of two…

This publication contains 14 papers, most of which were written by instructors of higher education in Australia and Great Britain. Following an introduction, the first five papers are "The Development of Children's Map Ability" (Simon Catling), "Published Guidance to Pupils on Atlas Mapwork Skills" (Herbert Sandford),…

Piaget's model of children's conceptual learning and development was compared with Klausmeier's Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) model in a longitudinal study. The CLD model suggests four successive levels of concept learning: (1) concrete--recognizing an object which has been encountered previously; (2) identity--recognizing a known…

The Conceptual Learning and Development (CLD) Model specifies four levels of concept attainment (concrete, identity, classificatory, and formal) and three uses of concepts (problem solving, subordinate-supraordinate, and principles). Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of concept attainment may be conducted. The results of this study of 300…

This document accompanies the Conceptual Learning and Development Assessment Series I: Equilateral Triangle, a test constructed to chart the conceptual developemnt of individuals. As a technical manual, it contains information on the rationale, development, standardization, and reliability of the test, as well as essential information and…