This paper is a how-to manual for doing poetic mini-dramas (PMD) with elementary school students. It describes the possibilities for discovery learning through the dramatization of poetry, lists initial suggestions for the teacher and the actual steps in the process, and reports the attitudes and vocabulary growth of second and third graders after…

Ideas and suggestions are presented on how to develop student thinking skills in the performing arts. Performing arts include music, dance and movement, drama and theater. The examples of arts focusing on performance given in this monograph are intended to be merely representative, and teachers are encouraged to apply the concepts to their own…

This paper aims to accomplish several purposes through conceptual analysis, story telling and interpretation, excursions into philosophy, and recent studies of teachers' professional development. First, the paper identifies limitations and confusions in current conceptions of teachers' professional thinking: equating teacher thinking with planning…

This monograph presents commentaries on the book "Dimensions of Thinking: A Framework for Curriculum and Instruction" (which organizes research and theory from several sources into a framework for teaching thinking), by four of its seven authors. The four articles are as follows: "The Development of 'Dimensions of Thinking'"…

This document summarizes five studies that offer insight into the nature of higher-order thinking skills and the most effective methods for teaching them to students. The reviews outline the conclusions, definitions, recommendations, specific methods of teaching, instructional strategies, and programs detailed in the documents themselves.…

Adding to the benefits of using metaphors as tools, "analoguing" (a method of analysis that focuses on metaphors for meanings in use and meanings of metaphors in use) helps avoid excessive categorization and separation by looking for unities and patterns in phenomena rather than for divisions. Six months of observation of patterns of…

This paper questions teacher evaluation based solely on "research based competencies" or "generic teaching skills" divorced from subject content or specific context. Three topics are discussed: (1) the use of the word "skill" in educational discourse; (2) the implications of such usage; and (3) the plausibility of…

Curriculum leaders, program specialists, and teachers can intentionally arouse the activation of one hemisphere of the brain over the other through the use of right brain strategies in language learning. While most functions of the left hemisphere are concerned with convergent production (getting the right answer), functions of the right…

This report documents events and activities that took place in the course of meetings and seminars investigating the cognitive processes and learning styles of elementary school teachers. The report includes an overview and six separate documents, each presenting one facet of the project. The overview is followed in section two by a proposed…

Well meaning parents and teachers often use children's play for the purposes of literacy and socialization. Yet, these attempts may deny play to children by subordinating play to some other concept. Evidence shows that even when parents play with their very young children they generally play games like shopping, cooking, and eating; whereas when…

Designed to focus attention on the design process in such computer science activities as information systems design, database design, and expert systems design, this paper examines three main phases of the design process: understanding the context of the problem, identifying the problem, and finding a solution. The processes that these phases…

Many people are interested in computer aids to rhetorical invention and want to know how to evaluate an invention aid, what the criteria are for a good one, and how to assess the trade-offs involved in buying one product or another. The frame of reference for this evaluation is an "old paradigm," which treats the computer as if it were…

The benefits of studying the humanities to the business executive are considered. The humanities can help develop both the values and functional skills that are necessary for executive success. Competence in value analysis helps future executives to understand the full implications of the economic system, especially when it is followed by the…

Project THISTLE: Thinking Skills in Teaching and Learning was designed to improve both the reflective thinking capabilities of urban high school students and their pre-college preparation. This study was conducted to elicit teacher perceptions of factors inhibiting reflective thinking in schools. Most important among the perceived constraints on…

Imaging, or disciplined daydreaming, can be used in the composition class to expose students to their innate creativity, lessen writing anxiety, refresh memories before writing of personal experiences, and make impersonal subjects, such as historical events, vital and personal. Teachers can construct a classroom imaging session (which takes about…