Research on the psychological processes involved in historical thinking indicates that formal operational thinking skills required to understand history develop relatively late. Although studies have indicated teachers can do little to accelerate historical cognitive development, most scholars believe students at all levels can learn historical…

This study attempted to determine whether a combination of seriation and classification training would produce more general intellectual gains. (Author/SB)

Children in grades 1-3 were asked to retell and explain a series of riddles. Ability to recall riddles was not predictive of ability to explain them. Three cognitive factors seemed to determine level of riddle competence. Implications concern the relationship of riddle competence to reading ability and metalinguistic facility. (CHK)

Describes William G. Perry, Jr.'s stages of student development (dualism, multiplicity, relativism, and commitment within relativism), examining their possible applications to undergraduate music education majors and implications for research. Concludes that the model provides a "philosophical map" of student changes and encourages…

The current baccalaureate trend toward professsionalization is lamented because it responds to the superficial and ultimately meaningless accouterments of professional life. The mission of developing broadly applicable intellectual capabilities must be maintained. (MLW)

Recounts specific examples in the life of a three-year-old which illustrate how he began making connections between print and meaning and using what he learned from literature to expand his knowledge of the world. Notes literature is not only a powerful influence but also a very natural one. (NH)

Argues for the need to provide more counseling services to families with disabled children. Describes three basic frameworks, considered necessary for counseling professionals, including understanding (1) the parent-professional relationship, (2) the psychological functioning of individuals, and (3) the process of counseling. (Author/DST)

Yale University Films' mission to make scholarly ideas more accessible to the general public is about to be realized when they broadcast a film on James Boswell to a national television audience. The movie is based on the journals of the eighteenth century Scottish diarist and biographer of Samuel Johnson. (MLW)

Four new books typify the constructive search for ways to improve the quality of undergraduate education. "Achieving Educational Excellence" (Alexander Astin), "Careerism and Intellectualism" (Herant A. Katchadorian et al.), "Increasing Student Retention" (Lee Noel et al.), and "Success in College" (Warren Willingham) are analyzed. (MLW)

Folklore offers a multitude of instructional possibilities for the elementary classroom. Students learn about other cultures, develop their imaginations, explore customs, discuss common problems, and heighten their sense of language. Several folktales and classroom resources are offered for teacher use. (DF)

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)

Described are four techniques for improving student reading skills, particularly comprehension and vocabulary expansion, in ethnic studies classes. The techniques involve the use of oral research reports, diagrams, cartoons, and multisensory demonstrations. (Author/DB)

Developments in the field of brain research that focus on how humans learn is beginning to influence the way schools are being built and renovated. This report discusses how the brain learns, explores how this knowledge can be used to inform learning theory, and describes what instruction would be like in a brain-based learning environment as well…

An experiment demonstrating that children in Piaget's preoperational stage, who generally still cannot give conceptually correct answers to questions about rate and time, evidence an ability to imitate a given rate-time relationship demonstrated by the experimenter. (ST)