A Study of Student Achievement and Attitude Utilizing Two Methods of Teaching the American Government Course in a Metropolitan Junior College
The problem under consideration was a study of student achievement and attitude by utilising two methods of teaching the American government course in a metropolitan junior college.
An Exploration in the Teaching of Critical Thinking in General-Psychology
EDUCATORS ARE becoming increasingly more interested in ways in which students ban be stimu lated to think critically. A considerable amount of research up to the present time has centered around such tasks as the definition of critical thinking, an alysis of the thinking process, and attempts at de velopment of instruments to measure such abilities. One of the more recent instruments for the meas urement of critical thinking abilities is A Test of Critical Thinking, Form G, development of the American Council on Education Cooperative Studies of Evaluation in General Education. ** The present study was designed to throw some light on the ques tion of classroom methods as related to changes in critical thinking abilities in students. Since the study was conducted in the early stages of the North Central Association study in liberal arts colleges of Illinois, it was largely exploratory in nature since one of the objectives was that of suggesting hypotheses which might be tested in better controll ed studies to follow.
Science fairs as learning tool for teaching excellence
Science fairs are usually considered to be a pedagogical and cultural activity that involves the students actively. Gifted students need challenges to further develop their skills while maintaining the motivation level. Science fairs may provide the informal environment that will request and allow these students of excellence to challenge themselves by developing a scientific research project. Despite being well known in different countries, in Portugal first steps are being made on the use and implementation of science fairs as effective pedagogical tool. In this work, we will present a 4 years study that was developed on a Portuguese school with the main goal of evaluating the advantages of this informal way of teaching. The study includes an analysis of the evolution of the students’ knowledge that have participated, or visited, the different science fairs. Some advices for the implementation of these projects will be given. The motivation of the students was monitored as well as the knowledge and skills effectively improved by this activity.