Describes students' investigative work that resulted from playing the game Set in an attempt to show how such games can be used to develop mathematical reasoning. (ASK)

Based on a set of theoretical assumptions relating to the cognitive modificability of low functioning adolescents, a program of Instrumental Enrichment was developed and implemented with 41 hearing impaired secondary students. The primary goals of Instrumental Enrichment included: (1) improving performance in spatial relations, (2) improving…

Learning potential hypothesis and its applicability to hearing and deaf low-achieving students was examined in this article. Results indicate that learning potential procedures can be used effectively with the deaf. Implications for theory and future research are discussed. (Author/DF)

Describes a week-long activity for general to honors-level students that addresses Hubble's law and the universal expansion theory. Uses a discrepant event-type activity to lead up to the abstract principles of the universal expansion theory. (JRH)

Argues that writing instruction is most effective when instruction focuses on inquiry which includes: utilizing concrete data, solving problems by using thinking strategies inherent in various writing tasks, focusing on student-centered problems, and encouraging student interaction with a minimum of teacher lecture. (JAD)

Advocates (1) breaking the lock-step sequencing of courses which places physics at the end of a three-year sequence, (2) adjusting grading procedures to bring them in line with other school courses, and (3) translating abstract concepts into concrete analogies in order to increase physics enrollment. (CP)

The relationship of cognitive development to learning science is considered. Views of thinking from both a psychological and a scientific standpoint are compared in order to shed light on current science teaching practice. Metacognition and problem solving are discussed. (Author/MT)

This research study shows that it is possible to advance the use of proportional reasoning of many secondary school students by means of a well-designed teaching program. (MP)

Presents a model for teaching reasoning using technology in the contexts of algebra and geometry. (MKR)

Presents research findings and teaching implications of mathematics as reasoning and students' reasoning abilities in mathematics. (20 references) (MKR)

Describes four projects that support the transition from an abstract to a concrete notion of the effective use of technology in the secondary school classroom: The Interactive Mathematics Program, Systemic Initiative for Montana Mathematics and Science, University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, and Connected Geometry. (MKR)

Adolescents with mental retardation viewed a story enacted with props and were asked questions about the knowledge and beliefs of the characters. Subjects performed worse than did nondisabled children matched for mental age. Subjects did better on questions requiring first-order reasoning than on those involving second-order reasoning. (Author/JDD)

Employing a sample of 51 12-year-old British secondary pupils, a study analyzed children's written and oral responses to a series of (contradictory) historical questions concerning the Boston Massacre of 1770. Many students were capable of abstract historical reasoning--critiquing sources, detecting bias and ambiguity, and determining flaws in…

Developed in response to deficiencies in verbal and quantitative skills demonstrated by students entering New Jersey colleges and taking the New Jersey Basic Skills Placement Test, this overview is designed to help interested educators orient themselves to the important and rapidly growing field of thinking skills instruction. The Task Force on…