This paper proposes a definition of intellectual character in which metacognition plays a key enabling role. Two necessary, if not sufficient, conditions for being said to have intellectual character are having high intellectual standards and habitually checking one's thinking against those standards, or being metacognitive. Four questions…

The ideas and practices of two philosopher-educators and their implications for experiential education are surveyed. Earl Kelley holds that learning is not a matter of acquisition and acceptance, but a result of process and subject to continuous modification. He maintains that the educational system disregards and impedes the learner's purpose. He…

This paper helps to clarify the role of empirical evidence in psychological and epistemological theories. Following Galileo's idealization, epistemological theories do not describe the behavior of individuals in the real world. It is only when the "impediments" of the real subjects are gradually removed by experimental manipulation that…

"The Road from Coorain" is the autobiographical story of Jill Ker Conway, the first woman president of Smith College. The story traces Conway's journey from powerlessness to power. Born in the outback of Australia, where all people were powerless in the face of the vacillations of nature, forced off the land into a city life to which she…

Three Piagetian tests of formal reasoning were administered to 65 high school biology students after half of this group had been exposed to a training session involving the control of variables. Among the results of this study was that the concrete operational students benefited more from the training session than did the formal operational…

Reports on a study conducted to obtain indications of changes in mental level from high school through college and to investigate the relationship of cognitive level to SAT scores, college grades, and attrition. (PEB)

Examines intellectual change within the discipline of political science. (PMP)

This article suggests that secondary schools offer upperclassmen the opportunity to inquire objectively into the language and structure of morality. (Editor)

Higher order thinking can be defined as interpreting, analyzing, and manipulating information to solve a challenging problem. This definition does not restrict higher order thinking to any level of cognitive ability or any class of people; it includes thinking involving both nonacademic and academic topics; and it is not limited to any particular…

A working definition of the humanities and characteristics of a liberally educated person are specified. The humanities embrace areas of human knowledge that possess these elements: central concern for human beings rather than for the processes of nature or the structures of society; primary focus on the individual rather than on the group;…

This paper examines the theories of Herman T. Epstein, who has suggested that there may be a correlation between Piaget's stages of intellectual development and the brain growth stages. Epstein's research has indicated that the human brain grows in spurts rather than in simple linear increments across time. Of special significance to educators is…

The use of William Perry's (1970) model of cognitive development during the college years to restructure an abnormal psychology course is described. The model provides a framework for students and teachers to understand the confusion and frustration they sometimes experience. Perry proposed that students enter college with tacit epistemological…

An examination of the use of metaphors by children summarizes the views of metaphor as found in the literature and describes a theoretical framework for the study of such utterances in young children by integrating two hypotheses. It is postulated that the young child uses metaphor to test new inferences about various kinds of relationships in the…

A review of the literature of early adolescence was conducted to provide background information for instructional designers and scriptwriters from the Skills Essential to Learning Project, which develops television/film series and related print materials for different grade levels to enhance the teaching of thinking skills in the context of major…

A review of the literature of middle childhood was conducted to provide background information for instructional designers and scriptwriters from the Skills Essential to Learning Project, which develops television/film series and related print materials for different grade levels to enhance the teaching of thinking skills in the context of major…