Students studying organic chemistry often have difficulty applying prior knowledge from general chemistry in their thinking about organic reaction mechanisms. In the United States, electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) mechanisms can be taught towards the end in a second-semester course of organic chemistry, providing students with almost…

The study analyses the scope and role of Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) in reforming teaching-learning practices in the classroom by employing a systematic balance of questions from both the lower and higher domains of learning in the summative assessment. Thus, this study analyses the annual question papers designed by the Boards of Intermediate and…

The objective of this article is to analyse the teaching of three topics that are decisive in the contemporary history of Colombia: violence, drug trafficking and armed conflict. It is of fundamental interest to define the incorporation of the development of historical thought in the classrooms through the analysis of textbooks, the material most…

The authors of this article consider Western teaching and learning alongside Confucian teaching and learning through reviewing the literature. The paper emphasizes that we must teach lower order thinking skills first before we teach higher order thinking skills, and confirms that rote learning and memorization precede critical thinking and…

Background/Context: Educators, parents, politicians, and the media often complain that young people know little history and compare them unfavorably to better-educated, earlier generations. However, the charge is exaggerated. Young people have performed poorly on history tests for decades. Students' poor scores on one test in particular, the focus…

Despite recent investments in and rapid modernization of university campuses in places like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, higher education in the Middle East still faces many obstacles. One of the greatest has been a fundamental disconnect between education and employment, a possible factor contributing to many of the recent riots in the Arab World. In…

This article discusses a case for teaching a kind of knowledge that is not in textbooks. The author calls on education leaders to take a crucial step toward getting students to use higher-order thinking skills by drawing a sharp line between firsthand and secondhand knowledge. The best way to do this is to focus attention directly on some part of…

This paper presents the differing sides to the discussion of how much assessment is too much. A teacher survey was administered to practicing teachers in the Lincoln Memorial University graduate program to determine how assessment affects classroom instruction and student learning. The research reflects more often than not that assessment does…

Although rote learning is a heretical notion to many educators, memorizing, reciting, and drilling may be what is needed to improve test scores and provide students with the necessary skills for solving problems and developing complex thinking skills. Sidebars summarize direct-teaching methods for mathematics and a Core Knowledge curriculum…