FACTORS INFLUENCING TEACHERS USE OF GAMES AS STRATEGY FOR PEDAGOGY OF PRIMARY SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS: THE ROLES OF LIBRARIES
This study investigates the effectiveness of games as technique for teaching and learning of primary science in schools and the role play by library services. Game, when carefully employed and executed served as an integral part of teaching method and measure of effectiveness of instruction. Research has shown that educational games can have positive impacts on student learning and motivation. The success of a game played in an instruction class depends on the type of game selected, the development of learning outcomes, and the flexibility of library in providing library unit that is equipped with multimedia equipments where learners can interact. The study was restricted to 600 male and female respondents’ teachers in Ojo Local Educational District of Lagos State. Data were collected through 18 items questionnaire. The three generated hypotheses for the study were rejected, while the result of the finding revealed that significant difference exists between factors influencing teachers’ choice of game, its usefulness and problems hindering the effectiveness of game(s) for teaching and learning process of primary science in schools. Conclusion and recommendation were also proffered.
Distinguishing Features of Critical Thinking Classrooms
Critical thinking comes in many forms, but all possess a single core feature. They presume that human arguments require evaluation if they are to be worthy of widespread respect. Hence, critical thinking focuses on a set of skills and attitudes that enable a listener or reader to apply rational criteria to the reasoning of speakers and writer. Those classrooms that encourage critical thinking possess distinguishing features that assist programme evaluators and teachers themselves to assess whether critical thinking is a regular occurrence in a particular classroom. This article suggests that a critical thinking classroom commonly reflects the following attributes: frequent questions, developmental tension, fascination with the contingency of conclusions and active learning. These attributes reinforce one another to provide developmental stimuli for enhanced critical thinking.
The Cognitive Processes in Informal Reasoning
Two experiments investigated the factors that people consider when evaluating informal arguments in newspaper and magazine editorials. Experiment 1 showed that subjects were more likely to object to the truth of the premises and the conclusions of an argument than to the strength of the link between them. Experiment 1 also revealed two manipulations that helped subjects object to the link between premises and conclusions: rating how well the premises support the conclusions and rating the believability of the premises and conclusions. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that subjects who identified the premises and conclusions of an argument were better at formulating objections to the link between premises and conclusions. Moreover, subjects in Experiment 2 were better and faster at formulating objections to the truth of the premises and conclusions than to the link between premises and conclusions. The results are discussed in terms of the constraints they pose for developing a cognitive theory of informa...