In this study, the cognitive characteristics of students' decision-making processes centered on phases, difficulties, and strategies are analysed in the personal dailylife context involving biological knowledge. The subjects were first year science and general high school students in Seoul, Korea; 6 female students and 7 male students. The…

This article examines the disposition toward critical thinking of post-baccalaureate initial certification students at a Texas institution of higher education using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. The inventory characterizes seven subscales of critical thinking disposition and an eighth combined score for overall critical…

Many students view statistics as their worst college course. Four heuristics that can improve students' proficiency in statistics and in interpreting reports of research are presented in this paper. The heuristics guide students' judgments about significance, generalizability, cause-and-effect, and strength of independent-dependent variable…

Research has indicated that a primary difference between effective and ineffective schools is the principal. However, the truly effective principal is uncommon in today's public schools, and female principals are even scarcer. Effective principals, regardless of gender, get things accomplished in schools. Their effectiveness results from ability…

Designed for a minimum amount of teacher supervision, this guide consists of introductory practice and evaluative activities for teaching secondary school students about critical judgment. A sample grade ladder and calendar help students self-schedule and keep track of their grade and points. The activity unit is preceded by a teacher rationale,…

Because the teacher librarian has an important educational role to play in assisting students to become independent learners by applying the inquiry process to library research, this booklet has been designed to assist teacher librarians in teaching students the information skills appropriate to stage three of the inquiry process, i.e., analyzing…

This study investigated whether training in reflection improves the quality of beginning preservice teachers' pedagogical thinking. The most problematic element for the reflecting student is becoming aware of essential aspects and evaluating action. The study compared the effects of two types of reflective training on two groups of students. One…

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.…

An analysis of informal reasoning and examination of teaching practices looks at ways to improve reasoning skills in college students. Teaching students to reason more effectively is an important but difficult goal of higher education. Reasoning consists of complex skills which must be taught. Effective instruction is based on two key features:…

A study was designed to generate a description of 5 elementary school teachers' judgment processes during marking (of 152 students) across a school year. The findings support a model of the marking judgment constructed from the strategies and cues that emerged through analysis of marks, record books, and interviews. The model presents a…

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…

This report summarizes the activities of a two-year project to develop curriculum materials to encourage and enable students in grades K through 5 to learn critical television viewing skills, and to use these skills to become evaluative consumers of television. A review of the project provides background information; describes the specific…

The document discusses miscalculations by public officials, arms control experts, journalists, and the general public regarding the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; assesses the Salt II treaty; and suggests criteria for appraising Salt II. The objective is to stimulate research, education, dialogue, and political action which will contribute to a…

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…

Concern is expressed here with college reading programs and with improvements needed to enable them to keep pace with the effects of rapid progress in the communications field on reading habits. Reading, especially critical reading, will be more necessary than ever in interpreting and evaluating all the ideas being gained or received from the…