This book brings together leading experts to offer an in-depth examination of how computer technology can play an invaluable part in educational efforts through its unique capacities to support the development of students' understanding of difficult concepts. Focusing on three broad themes-the nature of understanding, the potential of technology…

An appraisal of medical education and college preparation for medicine was undertaken through public hearings and written submissions from 82 medical schools, 24 colleges, and 21 professional societies. Views and suggestions were provided on learning, clinical education, college preparation and admission to medical school, and faculty. It was…

This study planned further research aimed at understanding how the current version of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) analytical measure reflects cognitive skills that are important to success in graduate education. Several activities were completed, including selective literature reviews of: (1) cognitive and psychometric research on…

The teaching of critical thinking is discussed, based on the view that methods of teaching critical thinking vary from discipline to discipline. After covering basic concepts related to teaching critical thinking, a framework to examine the process of critical thinking is presented, based on cognitive science and developmental theory, especially…

Evidence from the research literature suggests that a variety of cognitive factors are responsible for chemistry achievement. This investigation examined the role that four cognitive factors, namely, prior knowledge, formal reasoning ability, memory capacity and field independence/dependence, play on achievement in chemistry as measured by tests…

The results of studies that examined the logical reasoning of secondary students in Jamaica are analyzed. A logical reasoning test was administered to 205 Jamaican students in grades 7, 9, and 11. Also analyzed were data collected using the same instrument on three other groups of Jamaican students in grades 7, 8, 9, and 10. As expected, test…

A study was undertaken to determine if there was a difference in verbal responses in classrooms of teachers who scored high and who scored low on the complexity scale of the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI), which measures teacher tolerance of ambiguity and preference for complexity. Forty college English teachers were tested and ranked…

Because the achievement battery traditionally administered to Brazilian college bound students may discriminate against those who cannot afford to attend the best high schools or preparatory courses, tests were developed to measure aptitude for higher education, independent of ability or actual knowledge of course content. The focus of the…

A series of tests was administered to Ontario, Canada students who had completed the eighth grade: mathematics, reading, language, written English, social studies, science, health, physical fitness, French as a second language, French as a first language, written French, values, moral reasoning, problem solving, and attitudes. Approximately 50…

This paper empirically examines one aspect of Basil Bernstein's sociolinguistic account of educational failure, a code thesis wherein a restricted code is defined as giving access only to "particularistic" meanings and an elaborated code is defined as giving access also to "universalistic" meanings. According to Bernstein,…

THIS INVENTORY OF SELECTED ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS OBJECTIVES IS DIRECTED TO TEACHERS OF ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS, STUDENT-TEACHERS AND INTERNS, AND COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY FACULTIES AND SUPERVISORS WHO INSTRUCT AND CONSULT WITH TEACHERS OF ENGLISH. THE OBJECTIVES, BASED UPON RECENT SCHOLARSHIP IN LITERATURE, LINGUISTICS, AND EDUCATIONAL…

Analysis of approximately 5,000 words and phrases of the "hard core poor" is the basis of an attempt to develop a taxonomy of their language usage. The authors examine the problem of culture differences from mainstream society. "This approach assumes that basic beliefs about relevant social reality will be reflected in a group's choice of rules…

Educational implications and symptoms are described for learning disorders, the disruption in the processing of information within the central nervous system caused by brain damage, emotional disturbance, or inadequate presentation of learning experiences. Developmental sequences, developmental progression, and restoration of development are…

In order to determine the differential ability of mildly retarded school children to profit from coaching on non-verbal, non-academic reasoning problems and to study their problem solving and conceptual behavior, the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test was given to 72 educable students (IQ 55 to 80) in socioeconomically homogeneous suburban…

A class of preschoolers, aged 44-63 months and grouped according to age, sex, sibling position, family size and the occupation of each parent, were the subjects of a 2-part study to examine preschoolers' perceptions of mothers. In the first part of the study, each child was shown 4 sets of pictures depicting a variety of possible mother figures.…