This article focuses on the cognitive development of community college students. According to the article, a student can develop higher levels of cognitive reasoning through curricular activities that include problem solving, analytic thinking, and synthesizing exercises. In problem solving, students first identify and define a problem, then…

Compares the operational and sociomoral reasoning maturity of 70 deaf children with that of a sensory unimpaired control sample. Tests subjects individually on three Piagetian tasks, story pairs, and the concept of justice. Finds slower development of operational reasoning in the deaf children but comparable development in sociomoral reasoning.…

This review summarizes and synthesizes the research literature on teachers' thought processes from about 1970 to 1983. The literature is organized under four major headings: teacher planning, teachers' interactive thoughts and decisions, teachers' attributions, and teachers' implicit theories. The paper also includes a theoretical model of the…

The formal development of critical thinking is discussed, and guidance is provided to help faculty insure that critical thinking becomes an integral part of learning. Theory, research, teaching practice, and college programs pertinent to the development and role of critical thinking are presented in order to show how educators have shaped…

Comparison was made of the results of three analyses of teacher judgments concerning the selection of curriculum materials for the teaching of writing in elementary school. Twenty-five male and female fourth and fifth grade teachers, with teaching experience ranging from 4 to 33 years, responded to questions on their judgments of the value of…

Current writings on the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain are examined, focusing upon possible implications for improving present educational techniques. It has been generally accepted by researchers that the organizational and verbalizing processes are functions of the left cerebral hemisphere, while creative and intuitive…

Reviews the concept of reflective practice within the framework of experiential learning theory. Discusses ways in which reflective practice advances professional practice for teachers and administrators. Explores the implications of these ideas for professional education and for school reform. (JS)

The diagnostic discourse of medical students and physicians in thinking-aloud protocols on paper cases was analyzed for evidence of semantic structure. Results show that structural semantics can be used to distinguish various levels of mental processing among novices as well as between novices and professionals. (MSE)

An administrator's daily life is full of decisions that often involve an "on the spot" solution. This paper discusses some of the principles involved in drawing inferences in research and decision making, and describes how a knowledge of decision-making errors can help administrators. The paper also describes a case study that…

This paper is a review of the research literature related to theories of reasoning and teacher thinking. Judgment theory, decision theory, and problem-solving theory are discussed. Reviews are provided for studies from three major research projects on teacher thinking: The Institute for Research on Teaching, Special Study C of the Beginning…

The primary objective of this study was to describe those mental processes involved in teacher planning decisions made prior to teaching. One elementary teacher's planning decisions were studied during five months of classroom instruction. Both ethnographic and information processing approaches were used to describe distinctive features of the…

A published rater manual used by sixty elementary school teachers to assess moral thought statements was found ineffective. The study also examined what factors were related to their assessing ability. The subjects took a pretest using only descriptions of the six moral stages originally researched by Lawrence Kohlberg. Next the teachers were…

Using Guilford's model, the text reviews the structure of the intellect (SOI) and its operations, contents, and products. Those operations and components are further described, including the factors of cognition, memory, evaluation, convergent-production, and divergent-production. For each factor, the figural, symbolic, and semantic dimensions are…

Analyzes the art criticism of nine university art education students writing about the work of Robert Rauschenberg. Identifies the students' use or nonuse of thematic unity, intertextuality, opposition, and description. These thinking strategies are primarily found in the works of three professional art critics. (MJP)

One thread that runs through the definition of what students are to become as a result of their participation in the U.S. school enterprise is the ability to think analytically and behave ethically. This paper describes an effort at curriculum design in which attempts were made to increase critical thinking skills and moral development in…