The goal of problem-solving education should be to develop tools for thinking that will constitute a shell or framework of action procedures that can be applied on an ever-changing database. These tools come in the form of heuristics that can be modified and adapted to new situations. (Author/MLW)

This discussion of formative evaluation as part of the instructional design process focuses on developmental testing and expert review. A review of the literature helps define each approach, research on formative evaluation is reviewed, and 37 references are provided. (LRW)

Proposes a model for the revision process that recognizes that (1) reading and writing during revision are related; (2) a relationship exists between revision and the writer's knowledge of the subject, audience, and style; (3) revision strategies are based on heuristics; and (4) revision is involved in the recursive nature of the composing…

The contextual determination of cognitive activities was investigated in a primary school naturalistic experiment. Performance at a group level on an elementary arithmetic task is influenced by the immediate context. Use of analogies as heuristic aids and the functional meaning of the task as a pedagogical praxis are assessed. (TJH)

Similarities between Enaction Theory of Thinking and the Enrichment Triad Model lend theoretical validity to the Triad Model as a method to facilitate gifted students' thinking or problem solving. The relationships between mental models and Type I Enrichment, operators and Type II Enrichment, and heuristics and Type III enrichment are illustrated.…

Recommends an approach, derived from Derridean deconstruction, for the analysis of argumentative/persuasive texts. (MM)

Transferring the skills learned in mathematics to other contexts is a problem for many students. A new heuristic model of mathematics instruction is proposed. The model would guard against the adoption of mistaken assumptions about mathematics and foster the learning of problem-solving strategies. (VM)

Reviews 34 computer programs designed to help freshman writing students and their teachers either by providing instruction, supporting the composing process, or helping to manage classroom activities. Most of the programs run on microcomputers and are currently available; a few are included because they indicate interesting trends. (MBR)

Corporate and educational settings increasingly require decision making, problem solving and other complex cognitive skills to handle ill-structured, or heuristic, tasks, but the growing need for heuristic task expertise has outpaced the refinement of task analysis methods for heuristic expertise. The Heuristic Task Analysis (HTA) Method was…

Few issues have provoked as much controversy as the methods for detecting item and test bias. A recent illustration of the controversy surrounding this issue could be seen in the emotional reactions to the publication of "The Bell Curve." This paper reviews methods of evaluating both item and test bias. Small heuristic data sets are…

As a result of public pressure to assess student learning, college administrators are becoming more insistent in their demands that faculty members become involved in learning outcomes assessment. Most faculty members, however, think of assessment as another name for standardized testing--a procedure with little to do with the critical thinking…

Reports on a study in which a teacher used the collaborative development of a format-free computer database to facilitate the construction of knowledge by a group of students (n=3) during a science project. Results indicate that knowledge construction is enhanced when children collaboratively develop a format-free database. Contains 27 references.…

When the network-flow algorithm (NFA) and the average growth approximation algorithm (AGAA) were used for automated test assembly with American College Test and Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery item banks, results indicate that reasonable error in item parameters is not harmful for test assembly using NFA or AGAA. (SLD)

Explores the benefits of a hermeneutic orientation to technical writing instruction. Examines the historical and philosophical sources that have influenced technical writing pedagogy, and describes the usefulness of hermeneutic inquiry and its potential for technical writing teachers. (SG)

Reports a study of teachers' and writers' interpretations of scenario assignments. Finds that, among the three groups tested (graduate students trained to teach rhetoric, academically successful undergraduate students trained as tutors, and entering freshmen) experienced writers' interpretations adhered most closely to the interpretive community's…