The responses from questionnaires (N=182) given to 201 individuals who were provided an opportunity to join the faculty of two research universities (one rural, one urban) were analyzed to determine the factors influencing their decisions to join or not join. Interviews with 60% of the respondents were conducted to gather further information.…

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by observing how two types of teachers, novice and experienced, find and solve problems in a classroom setting and how problem finding behavior differs between them. The results indicate that experienced teachers (N=10) and student teachers (N=10) appear to use the same cognitive strategies…

In an age when decision making is becoming more and more significant for us human beings as we face dilemmas about whether or not to clone, to engineer behavior on mass scale, to expand or to decrease nuclear power, we educators must assist students to increase their decision-making skills. Many of our students will soon be decision makers for…

A descriptive model of how people make judgments under ambiguity is proposed. Two factors are reflected in the model: (1) the amount of ambiguity, which affects the size of the simulation, and (2) one's attitudes toward ambiguity. The model is tested in four experiments using individual and group analyses. (Author/LMO)

The use of base rate information by professionals (n=161) and undergraduates (n=97) in deciding probability of sexual abuse was studied. While professionals better prioritized the evidence of abuse in hypothetical cases based on sexual behaviors, both groups misestimated the probability of abuse for a child from a population with a known base rate…

Presents a study of metacognitive responses of English school children examining four common metacognitive function measures. Discusses the content of each measure, the search for developmental commonality, and statistical relationships. Concludes that no evidence supported a common metacognitive factor or unified construct, although a common…

Studies the development of moral autonomy in 720 Australian secondary school and university students between the ages of 12 and 21. Examines autonomy development in the context of moral judgments. Finds the need to add a dimension of individual differences to the single dimension used to describe developmental changes. (Author/NL)

Human behavior is governed by assumptions and beliefs ("theory-in-use"), yet individuals commonly explain their behavior in terms of a (different) "espoused" theory. Suggests reflective practice in counseling can only be achieved by counselors identifying their own theories-in-use through critical thinking. This task also…

This report describes a program for advancing critical thinking skills in an integrated earth science geography course. The targeted population consists of high school freshmen from a growing, upper middle class, suburban community 40 miles west of Chicago. The information on these students comes from teacher observation, colleague surveys, and…

This book provides preservice elementary school teachers with comprehensive coverage of the major themes, issues, concepts, and skill areas involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating instruction. The volume begins with a model for reflective decision making. Then, the process of analyzing and selecting content, outcomes, and assessments…

This monograph is designed to provide practical classroom suggestions, including sample lesson plans, to show how teachers can improve the problem-solving competence of students at all educational and ability levels. The examples provided show that problem-solving instruction can be integrated with teaching the content of particular topics. While…

College debaters who go to law school are often surprised by the differences between the processes that take place in the court of reason and the process that takes place in the court of law. The court of reason relies mainly on authoritative testimony, while the court of law relies on direct evidence. Evidence in the court of reason is either…

The effectiveness of the Delphi Technique is evaluated in terms of immediate and delayed controlled information feedback (feedback within 5 seconds as compared with a 24-hour delay); and the relationships that exist among measures of integrative complexity, estimations about the time of occurrence of future events, and time delay between task…

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…