Provides an exercise for introducing research methods to undergraduates. The students view a graph revealing that left-handed people are underrepresented in older age groups. Small group discussions attempt to explain this phenomenon. A follow-up class discussion focuses on the different approaches and methods available for interpreting the data.…

Advocates adapting a postmodernist approach to history instruction. This would mandate recognizing the subjectivity of all knowledge including the historical record. Recommends embracing this subjectivity and focusing less on history as a subject and more on the development of critical-thinking skills. (MJP)

Outlines key problem-solving and decision-making skills in which special needs students are deficient. Discusses the importance of teaching those skills. Describes a specific procedure called the Personal Problem Solving Guide, which utilizes readily available personal computer technology to teach children social decision-making and…

Briefly reviews the research literature concerning the overjustification effect. The effect describes the situation where positive reinforcement reduces one's intrinsic motivation for a behavior, thereby decreasing the probability that the behavior will be repeated. Notes the limitations of this explanation and recommends a broader representation…

Constructs a theory of dance education based on critical pedagogy theory (CPT). CPT views education as a liberating rather than an oppressive force. Defines and elaborates various components and approaches for establishing critical methodologies in the dance classroom. These mostly concern empowering the student and developing a critical…

Describes the introduction of the Patchwork Text in a Masters-level research methods course at Ashcroft International Business School at Anglia Polytechnic University (United Kingdom). Evaluates Patchwork in light of whether it met three objectives: helping students achieve a coherent grasp of the research process; helping students develop the…

Advances a line of research that investigates the potential of hypermedia resources and scaffolding for supporting problem-based social studies and developing critical reasoning. The line of inquiry consists of a series of generative design experiments that informs problem-based curriculum development. The experiments examined 11th grade U.S.…

Presented are six activities that help to promote critical and creative student thinking. Activities include discrepant events and questioning, divergent thinking, dilemma discussions, and drawing objects from symbols. Activities can be adapted to any science discipline. (KR)

Recommends bringing community legal resource persons into the classroom for effective teaching of law-related courses. Discusses the value of using their expertise. Includes a list of those available to assist. Describes appropriate teaching methods, stressing student participation in role playing and simulations. (CH)

Compares 1989 National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools' report, "Charting a Course: Social Studies in the 21st Century," to a similar curricular endeavor during the 1930s. Finds the 1989 version conformist, narrow, prescriptive, overly content oriented, and not reflective of educational research. Because of its academic…

A course at Hampshire College was designed to simulate the decision-making environment in which constituencies in a medium-sized city would respond to the closing and relocation of a major corporate plant. The project, constructed as a role simulation with a computer component, is described. (MLW)

Proposes constructive ways for discussing controversial issues in the social studies classroom. Develops an educational goal and a rationale for controversial issues discussions. Explicates six strategies for addressing controversial values issues, and discusses the problem of whether the teacher should disclose their position. (SLM)

Reviews a monograph which addresses children's higher-order thinking skills. Suggests the following for teaching problem solving: identify and develop content-independent and content-dependent problem-solving skills, connect developed skills through workshop-style activities to subject discipline, and help students identify and reconstruct their…

Stresses that media literacy is a skill which can and must be learned in the classroom. Urges that media be placed on center stage not merely used as audio-visual aids. Lists eight statements which can serve as the basis of curricula concerned with media literacy. Suggests pedagogical approaches to the subject. (KO)

Discusses the need for library science to examine users' search behaviors in the context of social cognition and creative problem solving. Topics covered include the psychology of search behavior, problem solving approaches to library instruction in online searching, and problem solving protocols. (29 references) (CLB)