An evaluation of a South African thinking skills programme for primary school learners : a follow-up study (original) (raw)

The incorporation of thinking skills in the school curriculum

2004

The focus of current classroom teaching in Malaysia is the utilization of metacognitive strategies especially thinking skills. In fact many educational psychologists argued that thinking skills are important aspects in education (Sternberg, 1990a, l990b). In Malaysia, it is realized that many teachers are not fully capable of incorporating thinking skills in their teaching strategies. Therefore it is the objectives of this study to find out how far students are inculcated with: a) critical thinking; b) creative thinking; and c) divergent/convergent thinking. A research survey was carried out on 387 secondary school students aged between 15–16 years. Results showed that teachers incorporated critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills as well as convergent/divergent thinking skills in their teaching of their subjects. Though this study showed that there is a new trend in teaching and learning where students are actively involved in the learning process, there is plenty of room...

Thinking Skills Frameworks for Use In Education and Training

British educational …, 2005

This article details findings from a systematic review and evaluation of frameworks and taxonomies for understanding thinking, with particular reference to learning in post-16 contexts. It describes the means used to identify and evaluate 35 frameworks and identifies three that appear to be particularly useful in the context of lifelong learning. In the light of this analysis, a schematic integrated model of thinking is outlined and discussed.

Thinking Skills: A Conceptual Framework. A Special Issue of "Noteworthy

1985

The first chapter of this publication, which focuses on a new definition and integration of thinking skills in the curriculum, presents a model that unifies current research and theory with a new understanding of the traditional notion of content and with a different approach to instruction. The model proposed in this chapter synthesizes recent research around three interactive elements, which make up the second through fourth chapters: (1) content thinking, which includes declarative, procedural, and contextual knowledge, and the integration of these elements; (2) reasoning, which consists of transferring content (that is, storage and retrieval of declarative, procedural, and contextural xilowledge), matching these elements with what is already known, and restructuring or producing new knowledge; and (3) learning to learn, which describes attending (paying attention), setting goals, monitoring attitudes, and selfevaluating the thinking processes. The document concludes with a discussion of a few restructuring issues considered necessary for the systematic teaching of thinking skills; specifically, how each of the three thinking skill areas necessitates fundamental changes in schools, testing, evaluation, and the integration of instruction. (EL)

THINKING SKILLS TO ENHANCE LEARNING

National Conference on Teaching & Learning in Higher Education

Students at tertiary level are often distinguished by their ability to think, and their thinking processes. This may be illustrated by the way in which they express themselves about a topic by reasoning, logic and argument, especially in a piece of academic writing and oral presentation. Students need thinking skills. These skills are undeniably important for dealing with the demands of the current and future information society, which will be even more complex and demanding. By reviewing some prominent scholars writing on the area, and suggesting some beneficial approach, this article attempts to define thinking skills in brief, review on how it should be taught, demonstrate how it can be embedded in any normal reading and literacy curriculum, alongside exploring recent exposure and approach and suggesting best applications for USIM students in particular and other Malaysian higher education students in general.

Integrating Thinking Skills into the Schools. Resource Publication, Series 1 No. 3

1988

Thinking skills instruction involves both the mastery of skills and the development of dispositions, habits of thought, and interpersonal behavior. Schools incorporate thinking skills programs into their programs to achieve two basic goals. The first goal is the development of autonomous thinkers. The liberal tradition in American education takes this as fundamental, and with such a goal in mind students are given the instruments needed to generate and evaluate ideas. Within this context, instruction focuses on education for citizenship, decision making, and lifelong learning. The second goal is to strengthen educational programs. Such programs focus on enrichment, remediation, and metacognition. Thinking skills programs are either presented as a separate course or unit of instruction, or they are infused into the standard school curriculum. Teaching for thinking requires teachers to adopt certain pedagogical practices and to master essential concepts and skills, including openmindedness, flexibility, a commitment to objective standards for evaluation, and skill in managing discussions. Teaching for thinking involves helping students to develop logical principles of thought and to be aware of the underlying abstractions that are implicit in the concrete discussion at hand, and to utilize them throughout their learning. In contrast to traditional teaching objectives, teaching for thinking involves an emphasis on divergent rather than convergent thinking, spiral as opposed to linear thinking, reasoned judgment rather than fact and opinion, and equality between teacher and student. References are included. (TAR)