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…

"Critical thinking" has been defined as reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. Since the social sciences require practitioners to ask relevant questions, develop appropriate evaluation criteria, generalize from observed facts, conceptualize hypotheses, and make judgements, critical thinking skills should…

Misinformation at the point of implementation for educational policy is a serious problem with legal as well as financial implications. As is apparent in public education when central authority for policy making increases due to shifts in power and control, and local decision making decreases, as in public education, local districts and individual…

This on-going study explores the hypothesis that stock fund managers who underperform do so because they make bad decisions, and examines whether their choices can be improved by using a decision model that invokes principles of brain hemispheric consensus. The study, begun in fall 1999, involves two groups of business students: the control group…

Argues that exposing children to some of Lawrence Kohlberg's moral dilemmas, such as Helga's dilemma, may be pedagogically unsound at the elementary-school level. States sample responses provided are inappropriate, rigid, and self-righteous. Provides 10 reasons why this dilemma and its designated responses are of questionable morality. Claims…

High school principals confront ethical dilemmas daily. This report describes a study that examined how MetLife/NASSP secondary principals of the year made ethical decisions conforming to three dispositions from Standard 5 of the ISLLC standards and whether they could identify processes used to reach those decisions through Rest's Four Component…

Examines three prevalent parental recommendations for reducing children's exposure to violence, noting that if delivered in an authoritarian manner, anticipated outcomes may not occur. Argues that child involvement in setting up family rules encourages self-awareness for children to monitor their own behaviors. Includes five examples of suggested…

The Professional and Administrative Career Examination measures judgment ability using comprehension and logical order of events item types. Since the verbal component of comprehension items is high, and since these items are extremely difficult to write and document, a search was conducted for a simpler item type for assessing judgment. Three…

Presents the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion) method used to analyze and judge legal cases. Stresses this method's applicability for social studies instruction, stating it helps students assess facts and apply rules to reach and defend conclusions. Provides examples for using the IRAC method in U.S. government and U.S. history units.…

Examined developmental differences in evidence evaluation skills among school children, non-college educated adults, and college students, utilizing plant growth variables. Found that children were more strongly influenced by prior beliefs and missing data than were the two adult groups. Age and educational differences were found in the…

These activities help high school students develop an understanding of nuclear weapons within the context of human beings making choices. Students learn to evaluate information and to identify the political stand or bias in what they hear and read. To record their own growth and change, students are encouraged to keep a journal. Teachers can…