A multidisciplinary educational unit featuring product safety decisions made by businesses and consumers is presented. teach critical thinking and decision making while supplementing the science, home economics, social studies, and economics curricula. The activities rely extensively, though not exclusively, on Procter & Gamble's experiences…

A high percentage of students in a second-grade class with low socioeconomic characteristics demonstrated exceptionally low achievement in social studies. The problem was addressed by the implementation of an interdisciplinary program to increase basic skills in all areas of the curriculum. Activities designed to increase the target group's…

As an alternative to the research paper for a course on Sexism in Literature, the idea of looking at feminine beauty through time and space was borrowed from Kenneth Clark's book, "Feminine Beauty." After a field trip to the Honolulu Academy of Arts and a background survey of library materials, each student chose a reproduction about…

A compilation of program ideas and related newspaper articles, cartoons, and visual aids, this booklet describes the objectives and procedure for the implementation of a pilot program at Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that emphasizes ethics education and the value of writing as a means to promote critical thinking. The first…

This study investigated the effects of heuristically based assignments and tests on adolescents' written responses to literature. In order to examine both tests and instruction, two separate but related experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated whether the inclusion of guided prewriting on essay tests for two poems and two short…

Initial activities in a collaborative reading project for tenth graders were based on the categorizing process, which is the basis for understanding the structure of ideas in most textbooks. Ideas are organized in a hierarchy of related categories moving down from the title, through chapter headings, main headings, subheadings, to paragraphs.…

Designed to contribute to the growing effort to teach critical thinking skills, this guide provides teachers with (1) a simple, usable set of definitions for recall, analysis, comparison, inference, and evaluation; (2) brief explanations of three common forms of classroom assessment (oral questioning during instruction, paper and pencil objective…

This dissertation determines how state-level textbook decisions were made in Texas during the period 1969-81. A combination of primary document, survey, and oral history data is employed to reveal actions of participants in three decision groups and their interactions with textbook publishers and petitioners during phases of three textbook…

The SIMILE model for teaching thinking skills is described and protocol materials that used the model to teach the concept of power are presented. Thinking skills in the SIMILE model include imaging, dissection, conceptualization, definition, relational analysis, and analogy. When teaching thinking skills using the SIMILE model, curriculum…

Renewing some previous considerations on the "manufactured" split between literature and composition instruction that is currently dividing many professionals in higher education today, this paper discusses the economic and political reasons for the initial separation of composition and literature in the classroom. The paper argues that…

It is argued that professional education should be centered on enhancing the professional person's ability for "reflection-in-action," which is learning by doing and developing the ability for continued learned throughout the professional's career. Examples are drawn from an architectural design studio and the arts to demonstrate how…

Junior Great Books discussions were used to teach critical thinking skills and independent learning behaviors to learning-disabled 5th-grade students. In baseline observations, the seven learning-disabled students exhibited active off-task behaviors and disruptive behavior causing dismissal from the group, while seven students in a…

In response to the negative learning environment found in most public schools today, a pedagogical method known as "The 3 Rs" (Reading, Reflecting, and Reacting) was developed to help schools produce active participants in a democratic and pluralistic society. Inspired by the literacy work of Paulo Freire, the method makes extensive use…

Designed to provide a more positive learning experience in the area of third grade social studies, this project was concerned with improving the effectiveness of textbooks, developing critical thinking skills, providing group learning situations, and using the computer as an educational tool. Chapter 1 contains the outline of the research proposal…

This ERIC Digest on teaching about the Bill of Rights in the schools examines the status, the deficiencies, and means to improve citizenship education. Currently, the Bill of Rights is taught at least four times during the elementary and secondary grades. Constitutional rights and liberties are stressed in K-12 curriculum goals for social studies…