Pedagogical content knowledge forms the core of teachers' professional knowledge; it refers to knowledge about making subject matter accessible to students. Thus, the formation of pedagogical content knowledge constitutes a crucial issue for educational research and practice. We investigated the contributions of content knowledge and pedagogical…

Despite the potential educational value of nature documentaries, the contribution of such films to environmental education is largely unknown. In the present study, we attempt to delineate the role of nature documentaries to the environmental sensitivity of students when the films are simply introduced to the class. More specifically, the present…

Constructivism is not a new concept. It has its roots in philosophy and has been applied to sociology and anthropology, as well as cognitive psychology and education. The aim of this research is to reveal if there is a significant difference between the means of achievement and retention learning scores of constructivist learning approach applied…

This study was designed to assess the impact of "Mathematics Pathways and Pitfalls" ("MPP") on the mathematics that second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade students learn. The specific research questions that were addressed are: (a) What is the impact of "MPP" on students' knowledge of the mathematics topics addressed,…

Explores the relationship between teaching methods in elementary school social studies and development of critical thinking for 18 fifth and 18 sixth graders receiving direct instruction in critical thinking, contrasted with 17 fifth and 27 sixth graders traditionally instructed. Efficacy of direct instruction is not demonstrated. (SLD)

The effects of instruction in critical thinking are investigated, using instructional materials based on a theoretical model of critical thinking. The model emphasized the role of concepts and processes in responding to instances of valid and invalid reasoning, argument, and evidence. Instruction focused on eight cognitive operations:…

Twenty-one impulsive fifth and sixth graders with low academic achievement were assigned to (1) self-instruction (SI) training; (2) problem solving (PS) training; or (3) a control condition. SI and PS training produced improvement in impulsivity and achievement, but only the impulsivity decrease was maintained at six months. (SLD)