A curriculum unit for middle school Earth Science called "What's on Your Plate?" was designed. The unit was implemented in several middle and high school classrooms in California and Massachusetts. In the first implementation, the total number of students who participated was 1100. The unit was designed with two main pedagogical…

Research has revealed distinct differences in the problem-solving approaches of high- and low-aptitude students. As a consequence, content area teachers can focus on thinking skills by having students describe their mental processes and giving them feedback on erroneous or incomplete reasoning. (TE)

A number of studies have reported that there is a strong tendency to ignore base-rate information in favor of individuating information, except when the former can readily be incorporated into a causal schema. In this study, students in eight undergraduate classes were given problems in which the base-rate information was either causal or…

In this study we investigated relationships between convergent and divergent thinking with an emphasis on fluency, originality, flexibility and elaboration in the mathematical domain. A related purpose was to examine relationships between problem types in mathematical tasks. The math section of a performance-based assessment was used to assess 857…

This study was undertaken to determine whether convergent or divergent computer software better enhances children's critical and creative thinking skills. Subjects were 40 elementary students (4th, 5th, and 6th grades), who were randomly assigned to either convergent or divergent software treatment. These students interacted for 25 hours with…

This study was designed to investigate three main topics: the frequency of different kinds of questions which day care teachers asked of low-income 2-year-olds, the toddlers' rate of response to questions, and differences in questions asked of boys and girls. It was hypothesized that caregivers would ask girls more personal-social questions and…

This study sought information on the relationship between cognitive styles (conceptual level and field-independence/field-dependence) and entrance examination criteria of those accepted to teacher education at the University of Helsinki in 1980. The 96 subjects represented prospective class teachers and teachers of handicraft and home economics.…

Investigated male/female sixth-formers studying physical and biological science A-level courses, examining cognitive style, convergent/divergent thinking, career plans, and other characteristics. Differences between biology/physics students tend to be of the same kind as those between scientists as a whole compared to nonscientists. (JN)

Research in this project studied cognitive processes involved in understanding and solving problems used in instruction in the domain of mathematics, and explored implications of these cognitive analyses for the design of instruction. Three general issues were addressed: knowledge required for understanding problems, knowledge of the conditions…

A key issue in international management is the extent to which management practices are converging in response to the pressures of globalisation, and the ready availability to managers in all parts of the world of the same concepts of what constitutes best practice in the different management disciplines. In some instances convergence may be…

This study examined concurrent and long-term effects of parents' teaching strategies on their children's cognitive styles. A total of 83 mothers and 74 fathers helped their 4-year-old sons or daughters with 4 problem-solving tasks. The interactions between parents and children were observed and evaluated. Two measures of field…