This document is the final report of the Model Educational Research Training (MERT) program, a graduate program of the New York University School of Education. MERT trains urban school staff in skills necessary to identify problems, design valid research projects, and apply research results. The long-term objective is the training of small groups…

Teachers have been learning to improve their questioning strategies to facilitate students' thinking. The students too should learn the skill of questioning to be a good reader for the rest of their lives. The teacher's first job is to identify for students the skill of questioning as a way of understanding the writer, pinpointing his purpose,…

This paper identifies the main findings, goals, and limitations of research related to teacher questioning behavior. It is based on a review of the literature and research conducted by the author who developed and utilized a multiple-category question classification system in 54 elementary school classrooms. A number of limitations that have…

The roles assumed jointly by a university and a school district in preparing student teachers to elicit critical thinking on the part of pupils are investigated. Twelve elementary student teachers were assigned to a suburban school district. Each student teacher worked with one cooperating teacher. Records were kept by the student teachers and…

Any given inquiry can be divided into four methodological stages. These are: problem solving, problem evaluating, solution forming and solution evaluating. In teaching students to think, teachers should encourage them in all of these steps. (GC)

An educator considers the science of education with an emphasis on the nature of scientific thought. Aspects of educational history, certainty and probability, and research implications are addressed. (CB)

When a student asks a question, he invites learning and teaching. This article analyzes student questions and then uses that analysis to propose a pedagogical plan for responding to questions. (MT)

Specific guidelines are offered to help a teacher respond to awkward, embarrassing, or personal questions posed by students. (JD)

Discusses the relationship of Michel Foucault's work to the human perspective. Argues that Fisher is inaccurate in characterizing Foucault as an "anti-humanist." Claims that Foucault's concept of the "statement" and his method of critique turn the humanist perspective toward a liberating, activist form that allows for change…

Examined the nature of the questions elementary aged children (N=81) asked about a classmate with disabilities. Results indicated that older children asked more questions, however, all children asked disability related questions. Younger children were more concrete, whereas older children were more abstract. Prompts yielded greater numbers of…

Provides a systematic conceptualization of population education using Hilda Taba's listing-grouping-labelling sequence. Also considers the use of inquiry (inductive, problem solving, and discovery) in learning population education concepts, attributes of population education, and what population education is and is not. (JN)

Discusses five propositions that support a rationale for increased understanding and use of qualitative methods by performance technologists: there has been a paradigm shift across the social sciences, and qualitative methods make common sense, increase flexibility, lead to increased confidence in results, and are good for professional…

Moral education at its most effective is philosophical education taught to elementary school children using inquiry. Children can discuss ethical issues in a thoughtful, objective, and reasonable manner. Such an education is the antithesis of indoctrination and gives children the intellectual tools they need to think autonomously about moral…

Explores the implications of Mead's philosophic social psychology for current disputes concerning the nature of the scientific in educational studies. Mead's contextualization of the knower and the known are found to be compatible with a contemporary critique of positivist paradigms and a critical reconceptualization of educational inquiry.…

Reflective dialog between student and teacher when children are producing art can help children grasp relationships between actions and consequences. Eight types of questions that can be asked by the teacher are discussed. (IS)