Sample records for challenge conventional thinking

  1. The Controversy over Controversy in the Social Studies Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lintner, Timothy

    2018-01-01

    Social studies is by virtue opaque, unwieldly, and rarely neutral. It challenges convention and conventional thought and action. Embedding controversy into social studies instruction allows students to think deeply, critically, and passionately. Yet controversy is fraught with philosophical and pedagogical hurdles that often limit its use. Thus,…

  2. Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention. The Making History Series

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eshet, Dan

    2007-01-01

    This case study highlighting the story of Raphael Lemkin challenges everyone to think deeply about what it will take for individuals, groups, and nations to take up Lemkin's challenge. To make this material accessible for classrooms, this resource includes several components: an introduction by Genocide scholar Omer Bartov; a historical case study…

  3. 25 Ways to Reduce the Cost of College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vedder, Richard; Gillen, Andrew; Bennett, Daniel; Denhart, Matthew; Robe, Jonathan; Holbrook, Todd; Neiger, Peter; Coleman, James; Templeton, Jordan; Leirer, Jonathan; Myers, Luke; Brady, Ryan; Malesick, Michael

    2010-01-01

    The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) is an independent, nonprofit research center based in Washington, DC that is dedicated to researching public policy and economic issues relating to postsecondary education. CCAP aims to facilitate a broader dialogue that challenges conventional thinking about costs, efficiency and…

  4. Remove It And They Will Disappear: New Evidence Why Building New Roads Isn't Always the Answer

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1999-01-01

    While induced travel has countered the notion that cities can build themselves out of congestion, reduced travel has emerged to further challenge the way local officials think about road building. : Flying in the face of conventional wisdom, new evid...

  5. Gender Undone: Subversion, Regulation and Embodiment in the Work of Judith Butler

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nayak, Anoop; Kehily, Mary Jane

    2006-01-01

    Judith Butler's philosophical writings on identity have provided inspiring, if occasionally "troubling", ways of rethinking gender. A key contribution has been the challenge to conventional social constructionist ideas and thinking on subjectivity. In developing a paradigm of performativity, Butler's work takes us beyond the territory of identity…

  6. Tourist Attraction: The Moore Library of Lexington, Michigan, 1903-1953

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiegand, Wayne A.

    2011-01-01

    This essay challenges traditional assumptions about the small-town American public library and the roles it has played in its community. Conventional thinking and professional rhetoric grounded on a "user in the life of the library" perspective identifies the public library as a neutral agency "essential to democracy" that…

  7. Rethinking the Idea/Ideal of Pedagogical Control: Assemblages of De/Stabilisation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sandvik, Ninni

    2012-01-01

    Inspired by a Deleuzian focus on a-personal machineries, this discussion focuses on a challenge to conventional pedagogical relationships and presents the possibility to think about pedagogical control differently. The work of Deleuze also underpins the methodological approach. Drawing on an extract constructed from the author's doctoral project…

  8. Thinking in nursing education. Part II. A teacher's experience.

    PubMed

    Ironside, P M

    1999-01-01

    Across academia, educators are investigating teaching strategies that facilitate students' abilities to think critically. Because may these strategies require low teacher-student ratios or sustained involvement over time, efforts to implement them are often constrained by diminishing resources for education, faculty reductions, and increasing number of part-time teachers and students. In nursing, the challenges of teaching and learning critical thinking are compounded by the demands of providing care to patients with increasingly acute and complex problems in a wide variety of settings. To meet these challenges, nurse teachers have commonly used a variety of strategies to teach critical thinking (1). For instance, they often provide students with case studies or simulated clinical situations in classroom and laboratory settings (2). At other times, students are taught a process of critical thinking and given structured clinical assignments, such as care plans or care maps, where they apply this process in anticipating the care a particular patient will require. Accompanying students onto clinical units, teachers typically evaluate critical thinking ability by reviewing a student's preparation prior to the experience and discussing it with the student during the course of the experience. The rationales students provide for particular nursing interventions are taken as evidence of their critical thinking ability. While this approach is commonly thought to be effective, the evolving health care system has placed increased emphasis on community nursing (3,4), where it is often difficult to prespecify learning experiences or to anticipate patient care needs. In addition, teachers are often not able to accompany each student to the clinical site. Thus, the traditional strategies for teaching and learning critical thinking common to hospital-based clinical courses are being challenged, transformed, and extended (5). Part II of this article describes findings that suggest how many teachers and students are challenging the conventional approaches to schooling and creating pedagogies that are more responsive to the contemporary context of health care.

  9. The Faculty and the Fourth Estate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaschik, Scott

    2010-01-01

    The relationship between faculty members and the press is complicated. Judging by surface similarities, one might think reporters and academics would get along well. Both groups care about words and ideas, and in both careers, people can make their names by challenging conventional wisdom and framing issues in new ways. Critics of both groups…

  10. Applying Structural Systems Thinking to Frame Perspectives on Social Work Innovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stringfellow, Erin J.

    2017-01-01

    Objective: Innovation will be key to the success of the Grand Challenges Initiative in social work. A structural systems framework based in system dynamics could be useful for considering how to advance innovation. Method: Diagrams using system dynamics conventions were developed to link common themes across concept papers written by social work…

  11. Smarter Budgets, Smarter Schools: How to Survive and Thrive in Tight Times

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levenson, Nathan

    2012-01-01

    Armed with real-world examples and out-of-the-box ideas, Levenson challenges conventional thinking about school budgeting and offers a compelling way forward for school superintendents, central office leaders, building principals, and school board members. Virtually every school district in the nation is experiencing an extended period of…

  12. William Bagley versus Arthur Bestor: Why the Standard Story Is Not True

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Null, J. Wesley

    2008-01-01

    This essay challenges the conventional understanding of William Bagley and Arthur Bestor, which suggests that they held similar views in curriculum and teacher education. The author thinks this view is completely wrong and provides a radical new interpretation of Bagley and Bestor that uncovers a lost tradition within the field of education.…

  13. Variations in lay health theories: implications for consumer health care decision making.

    PubMed

    Shaw Hughner, Renée; Schultz Kleine, Susan

    2008-12-01

    Wide variations in how contemporary consumers think about health and make health care decisions often go unrecognized by health care marketers and public policy decision makers. In the current global environment, prevailing Western viewpoints on health and conventional biomedicine are being challenged by a countervailing belief system forming the basis for alternative health care practices. The ways American consumers once thought about health have changed and multiplied in this new era of competing health paradigms. Our study provides empirical evidence for this assertion in two ways. First, it demonstrates that in the current environment consumers think about health and health care in a multiplicity of very different ways, leading to the conclusion that we should not classify health care consumers as either conventional or alternative. Second, the results provide clues as to how individuals holding diverse health theories make health care decisions that impact health behaviors, treatment efficacy, and satisfaction judgments.

  14. Using narrative pedagogy: learning and practising interpretive thinking.

    PubMed

    Ironside, Pamela M

    2006-08-01

    This paper reports a hermeneutic study undertaken to explicate students' experiences in educational courses in which teachers enact Narrative Pedagogy. International interest in developing and implementing discipline-specific pedagogies is becoming commonplace as teachers respond to the challenges of preparing students for contemporary practice. Lifeworld Pedagogy, developed in Scandinavia, and Narrative Pedagogy, developed in the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand, are two approaches developed from nursing research for nursing education that provide teachers with research-based alternatives to conventional pedagogy. Further research is needed, however, that addresses how new pedagogies are experienced in schools of nursing. Teachers and students from 22 schools of nursing in the United States of America were interviewed over a 4-year period between 2002 and 2005. Using interpretive phenomenology as the philosophical background and Heideggerian hermeneutics as the method, accounts from 52 participants were analysed by a research team. The theme Learning and Practising Interpretive Thinking reveals how reform is occurring in schools of nursing that use Narrative Pedagogy. It documents how Narrative Pedagogy helps students challenge their assumptions and think through and interpret situations they encounter from multiple perspectives. Findings suggest that by focusing teachers' and students' attention on thinking and interpreting as communal experiences, interpretive pedagogies such as Narrative Pedagogy engage teachers and students in pooling their wisdom, challenging their preconceptions, envisioning new possibilities for providing care and engaging with others to ensure patient-centred care and safety. By documenting students' experiences in courses in which Narrative Pedagogy is used, this study provides teachers with research-based evidence to guide their pedagogical decisions. It extends international efforts to develop discipline-specific pedagogies and offers a practical, student-centred approach teachers can use to enhance students' thinking.

  15. The Next Generation: Access and Opportunity in Continuing Higher Education. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Continuing Higher Education (70th, Nashville, Tennessee, November 8-11, 2008)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrineau, Irene T., Ed.

    2008-01-01

    These proceedings record the 70th Annual Conference and Meeting of ACHE (Association for Continuing Higher Education) held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The conference theme, "The Next Generation: Access and Opportunity in CHE" challenged attendees to think about the coming new age and its…

  16. Critical Thinking: Rationality, and the Vulcanization of Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walters, Kerry S.

    1990-01-01

    Although critical thinking has become a pedagogical industry, its endorsement by educators is uncritical. The conventional critical thinking model assumes that only logical thinking is good thinking. However, good thinking also includes rational but nonlogical cognitive functions. To ignore them is to train students in only one aspect of thinking.…

  17. When Students Say "I Just Couldn't Think": Challenges in Teaching Skilful Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Row, Bavani Nageswana; Subramaniam, Selvaranee; Sathasivam, Renuka V.

    2016-01-01

    This paper discusses challenges encountered by selected Year Four science teachers regarding their knowledge and implementation of skilful thinking (ST) in their classrooms. ST is a complex concept comprising three elements; specific thinking strategies, habits of mind and metacognitive thinking. Due of the complexity of ST, the implementation of…

  18. Development and Motivation in/for Critical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riggs, Larry W.; Hellyer-Riggs, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    An explicit link between the issues of development and critical thinking is provided by Elder and Paul (1996). In their stage theory of critical thinking, Elder and Paul argued that the first stage beyond unreflective thinking is that of the challenged thinker. The challenged thinker is one who has become aware of the actual role of thinking in…

  19. Teaching Critical Thinking: Cultural Challenges and Strategies in Singapore

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan, Charlene

    2017-01-01

    Among the challenges faced by educators in promoting critical thinking is that of cultural compatibility. Using Singapore as an illustrative case study, this paper explores the cultural challenges and recommended strategies for the teaching of critical thinking in schools. The research for this study is based on a theoretical framework that…

  20. Red Dirt Thinking on Aspiration and Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osborne, Sam; Guenther, John

    2013-01-01

    This article sets the scene for the series of five articles on "red dirt thinking". It first introduces the idea behind red dirt thinking as opposed to "blue sky thinking". Both accept that there are any number of creative and expansive solutions and possibilities to identified challenges--in this case, the challenge of…

  1. Thinking Out of the Box: A Green and Social Climate Fund

    PubMed Central

    Ooms, Gorik; van de Pas, Remco; Decoster, Kristof; Hammonds, Rachel

    2017-01-01

    Solomon Benatar’s paper "Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames" examines the inequitable state of global health challenging readers to extend the discourse on global health beyond conventional boundaries by addressing the interconnectedness of planetary life. Our response explores existing models of international cooperation, assessing how modifying them may achieve the twin goals of ensuring healthy people and planet. First, we address why the inequality reducing post World War II European welfare model, if implemented state-by-state, is unfit for reducing global inequality and respecting environmental boundaries. Second, we argue that to advance beyond the ‘Westphalian,’ human centric thinking integral to global inequality and climate change requires challenging the logic of global economic integration and exploring the politically infeasible. In conclusion, we propose social policy focused changes to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a Green and Social Climate Fund, financed by new global greenhouse gas charges, both of which could advance human and planetary health. Recent global political developments may offer a small window of opportunity for out of the box proposals that could be advanced by concerted and united advocacy by global health activists, environmental activists, human rights activists, and trade unions. PMID:28949466

  2. Imperial nursing: cross-cultural challenges for women in the health professions: a historical perspective.

    PubMed

    Schultheiss, Katrin

    2010-05-01

    This essay briefly examines some of the cross-cultural challenges that faced nurses in the Philippines, India, and South Africa in the context of 19th and 20th century imperialism. During this time, nurses from colonizing countries served as agents of empire by helping to establish and reinforce American and European control in colonized societies. In doing so, they sought to instill the racial and gender hierarchies of their home countries in the colonial territories. But once these women moved to the colonies, they frequently found their preconceptions about femininity, sexuality, and race challenged in unexpected ways. The history of nursing in the age of empire is a story of good intentions mixed with cultural chauvinism, of professional rigor mixed with condescension, of devotion and generosity shaped and often distorted by ideas of gendered and racial conventions, and of ambitious reform crushed by an inability to think beyond the bounds of imperialism.

  3. Ensuring the Enduring Viability of the Space Science Enterprise: New Questions, New Thinking, New Paradigms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arenberg, Jonathan; Conti, Alberto; Atkinson, Charles

    2017-01-01

    Pursuing ground breaking science in a highly cost and funding constrained environment presents new challenges to the development of future space astrophysics missions. Within the conventional cost models for large observatories, executing a flagship “mission after next” appears to be unstainable. To achieve our nation’s space astrophysics ambitions requires new paradigms in system design, development and manufacture. Implementation of this new paradigm requires that the space astrophysics community adopt new answers to a new set of questions. This paper will discuss the origins of these new questions and the steps to their answers.

  4. Computational Thinking in Constructionist Video Games

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weintrop, David; Holbert, Nathan; Horn, Michael S.; Wilensky, Uri

    2016-01-01

    Video games offer an exciting opportunity for learners to engage in computational thinking in informal contexts. This paper describes a genre of learning environments called constructionist video games that are especially well suited for developing learners' computational thinking skills. These games blend features of conventional video games with…

  5. A Systems Thinking Approach to Engineering Challenges of Military Systems-of-Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    UNCLASSIFIED UNCLLASIFIED A Systems Thinking Approach to Engineering Challenges of Military Systems -of- Systems Pin Chen and Mark...Unewisse Joint & Operations Analysis Division Defence Science and Technology Group DST-Group-TR-3271 ABSTRACT System (s)-of- Systems (SoS...their products and outcomes. This report introduces a systems thinking-based approach, SoS thinking, which offers a language and a thoughtful process

  6. Lymphoma Therapy and Adverse Events: Nursing Strategies for Thinking Critically and Acting Decisively.

    PubMed

    Goodrich, Amy; Wagner-Johnston, Nina; Delibovi, Dana

    2017-02-01

    Multiple treatment options, combined with disease heterogeneity, have created nursing challenges in the management of adverse events (AEs) during antilymphoma therapy. Testing has revealed that less than half of participating nurses correctly graded peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia related to antilymphoma regimens. This article identifies nursing challenges in the management of AEs associated with therapy for lymphomas and describes how strategies in critical thinking can help meet those challenges. A comprehensive literature search in oncology nursing, nursing education, and critical thinking was conducted; participant responses to pre- and post-tests at nursing education programs were evaluated; and a roundtable meeting of authors was convened. Oncology nurses can cultivate critical thinking skills, practice thinking critically in relation to team members and patients, leverage information from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, and manage workflow to allow more opportunity for critical thinking.

  7. Team-Designed Improvement of Writing and Critical Thinking in Large Undergraduate Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernstein, Daniel; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer

    2014-01-01

    Helping students achieve advanced critical thinking and writing skills in large undergraduate classes is a challenge faced by many university faculty members. We addressed this challenge in a three-year project using team course design, built around a cognitive apprenticeship model, to enhance undergraduates' writing, critical thinking, and…

  8. A Mind of Their Own: Using Inquiry-based Teaching to Build Critical Thinking Skills and Intellectual Engagement in an Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Course

    PubMed Central

    Greenwald, Ralf R.; Quitadamo, Ian J.

    2014-01-01

    A changing undergraduate demographic and the need to help students develop advanced critical thinking skills in neuroanatomy courses has prompted many faculty to consider new teaching methods including clinical case studies. This study compared primarily conventional and inquiry-based clinical case (IBCC) teaching methods to determine which would produce greater gains in critical thinking and content knowledge. Results showed students in the conventional neuroanatomy course gained less than 3 national percentile ranks while IBCC students gained over 7.5 within one academic term using the valid and reliable California Critical Thinking Skills Test. In addition to 2.5 times greater gains in critical thinking, IBCC teaching methods also produced 12% greater final exam performance and 11% higher grades using common grade performance benchmarks. Classroom observations also indicated that IBCC students were more intellectually engaged and participated to a greater extent in classroom discussions. Through the results of this study, it is hoped that faculty who teach neuroanatomy and desire greater critical thinking and content student learning outcomes will consider using the IBCC method. PMID:24693256

  9. A Mind of Their Own: Using Inquiry-based Teaching to Build Critical Thinking Skills and Intellectual Engagement in an Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Course.

    PubMed

    Greenwald, Ralf R; Quitadamo, Ian J

    2014-01-01

    A changing undergraduate demographic and the need to help students develop advanced critical thinking skills in neuroanatomy courses has prompted many faculty to consider new teaching methods including clinical case studies. This study compared primarily conventional and inquiry-based clinical case (IBCC) teaching methods to determine which would produce greater gains in critical thinking and content knowledge. Results showed students in the conventional neuroanatomy course gained less than 3 national percentile ranks while IBCC students gained over 7.5 within one academic term using the valid and reliable California Critical Thinking Skills Test. In addition to 2.5 times greater gains in critical thinking, IBCC teaching methods also produced 12% greater final exam performance and 11% higher grades using common grade performance benchmarks. Classroom observations also indicated that IBCC students were more intellectually engaged and participated to a greater extent in classroom discussions. Through the results of this study, it is hoped that faculty who teach neuroanatomy and desire greater critical thinking and content student learning outcomes will consider using the IBCC method.

  10. Critical Thinking in the Classroom…and Beyond

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murawski, Linda M.

    2014-01-01

    Critical thinking in the classroom is a common term used by educators. Critical thinking has been called "the art of thinking about thinking" (Ruggiero, V. R., 2012) with the intent to improve one's thinking. The challenge, of course, is to create learning environments that promote critical thinking both in the classroom and beyond.…

  11. Using Complementary Learning Clusters in Studying Literature to Enhance Students' Medical Humanities Literacy, Critical Thinking, and English Proficiency.

    PubMed

    Liao, Hung-Chang; Wang, Ya-Huei

    2016-04-01

    This study examined whether students studying literature in complementary learning clusters would show more improvement in medical humanities literacy, critical thinking skills, and English proficiency compared to those in conventional learning clusters. Ninety-three students participated in the study (M age = 18.2 years, SD = 0.4; 36 men, 57 women). A quasi-experimental design was used over 16 weeks, with the control group (n = 47) working in conventional learning clusters and the experimental group (n = 46) working in complementary learning clusters. Complementary learning clusters were those in which individuals had complementary strengths enabling them to learn from and offer assistance to other cluster members, hypothetically facilitating the learning process. Measures included the Medical Humanities Literacy Scale, Critical Thinking Disposition Assessment, English proficiency tests, and Analytic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric. The results showed that complementary learning clusters have the potential to improve students' medical humanities literacy, critical thinking skills, and English proficiency. © The Author(s) 2016.

  12. Critical thinking.

    PubMed

    Price, A; Price, B

    1996-05-01

    Critical thinking is a process applied to midwifery theory, research and experience. It is a positive activity, responsive to context, drawing on negative and positive triggers and emotions to suggest ways of acting in future. Practice-based and reflective midwifery assignments should reflect the midwifery goals of critical thinking. This may require adjustments in assessment criteria and a questioning of standard academic conventions.

  13. Patterns of thinking about phylogenetic trees: A study of student learning and the potential of tree thinking to improve comprehension of biological concepts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naegle, Erin

    Evolution education is a critical yet challenging component of teaching and learning biology. There is frequently an emphasis on natural selection when teaching about evolution and conducting educational research. A full understanding of evolution, however, integrates evolutionary processes, such as natural selection, with the resulting evolutionary patterns, such as species divergence. Phylogenetic trees are models of evolutionary patterns. The perspective gained from understanding biology through phylogenetic analyses is referred to as tree thinking. Due to the increasing prevalence of tree thinking in biology, understanding how to read phylogenetic trees is an important skill for students to learn. Interpreting graphics is not an intuitive process, as graphical representations are semiotic objects. This is certainly true concerning phylogenetic tree interpretation. Previous research and anecdotal evidence report that students struggle to correctly interpret trees. The objective of this research was to describe and investigate the rationale underpinning the prior knowledge of introductory biology students' tree thinking Understanding prior knowledge is valuable as prior knowledge influences future learning. In Chapter 1, qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews were used to explore patterns of student rationale in regard to tree thinking. Seven common tree thinking misconceptions are described: (1) Equating the degree of trait similarity with the extent of relatedness, (2) Environmental change is a necessary prerequisite to evolution, (3) Essentialism of species, (4) Evolution is inherently progressive, (5) Evolution is a linear process, (6) Not all species are related, and (7) Trees portray evolution through the hybridization of species. These misconceptions are based in students' incomplete or incorrect understanding of evolution. These misconceptions are often reinforced by the misapplication of cultural conventions to make sense of trees. Chapter 2 explores the construction, validity, and reliability of a tree thinking concept inventory. Concept inventories are research based instruments that diagnose faulty reasoning among students. Such inventories are tools for improving teaching and learning of concepts. Test scores indicate that tree thinking misconceptions are held by novice and intermediate biology students. Finally, Chapter 3 presents a tree thinking rubric. The rubric aids teachers in selecting and improving introductory tree thinking learning exercises that address students' tree thinking misconceptions.

  14. The Practice and Challenges of Implementing Critical Thinking Skills in Omani Post-Basic EFL Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Kindi, Naeema Saleh; AL-Mekhlafi, Abdo Mohammed

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the current study is to investigate post-basic English teachers' practice of critical thinking skills and the challenges they face while teaching skills in EFL classrooms. Three research questions were investigated to achieve this purpose: 1--To what extent do EFL teachers use classroom behaviors that nurture critical thinking at…

  15. The Curiosity in Marketing Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hill, Mark E.; McGinnis, John

    2007-01-01

    This article identifies the curiosity in marketing thinking and offers ways to teach for marketing thinking through an environment that fosters students' curiosity. The significance of curiosity in its relationship with thinking is that when curiosity is absent, so is thinking. Challenges are discussed in recognizing the fragility of curiosity…

  16. Improving Junior High Schools' Critical Thinking Skills Based on Test Three Different Models of Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuad, Nur Miftahul; Zubaidah, Siti; Mahanal, Susriyati; Suarsini, Endang

    2017-01-01

    The aims of this study were (1) to find out the differences in critical thinking skills among students who were given three different learning models: differentiated science inquiry combined with mind map, differentiated science inquiry model, and conventional model, (2) to find out the differences of critical thinking skills among male and female…

  17. iPad Learning Ecosystem: Developing Challenge-Based Learning Using Design Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marin, Catalina; Hargis, Jace; Cavanaugh, Cathy

    2013-01-01

    In order to maximize college English language students' learning, product development, 21st Century skills and engagement with real world meaningful challenges, a course was designed to integrate Challenge Based Learning (CBL) and iPad mobile learning technology. This article describes the course design, which was grounded in design thinking, and…

  18. A conceptual framework for developing a critical thinking self-assessment scale.

    PubMed

    Nair, Girija G; Stamler, Lynnette Leeseberg

    2013-03-01

    Nurses must be talented critical thinkers to cope with the challenges related to the ever-changing health care system, population trends, and extended role expectations. Several countries now recognize critical thinking skills (CTS) as an expected outcome of nursing education programs. Critical thinking has been defined in multiple ways by philosophers, critical thinking experts, and educators. Nursing experts conceptualize critical thinking as a process involving cognitive and affective domains of reasoning. Nurse educators are often challenged with teaching and measuring CTS because of their latent nature and the lack of a uniform definition of the concept. In this review of the critical thinking literature, we examine various definitions, identify a set of constructs that define critical thinking, and suggest a conceptual framework on which to base a self-assessment scale for measuring CTS. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  19. [Martin Heidegger, beneficence, health, and evidence based medicine--contemplations regarding ethics and complementary and alternative medicine].

    PubMed

    Oberbaum, Menachem; Gropp, Cornelius

    2015-03-01

    Beneficence is considered a core principle of medical ethics. Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is used almost synonymously with beneficence and has become the gold standard of efficiency of conventional medicine. Conventional modern medicine and EBM in particular are based on what Heidegger called calculative thinking, whereas complementary medicine (CM) is often based on contemplative thinking according to Heidegger's distinction of different thinking processes. A central issue of beneficence is the striving for health and wellbeing. EBM is little concerned directly with wellbeing, though it does claim to aim at improving quality of life by correcting pathological processes and conditions like infectious diseases, ischemic heart disease but also hypertension and hyperlipidemia. On the other hand, wellbeing is central to therapeutic efforts of CM. Scientific methods to gauge results of EBM are quantitative and based on calculative thinking, while results of treatments with CM are expressed in a qualitative way and based on meditative thinking. In order to maximize beneficence it seems important and feasible to use both approaches, by combining EBM and CM in the best interest of the individual patient.

  20. Preparing your Offshore Organization for Agility: Experiences in India

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Srinivasan, Jayakanth

    Two strategies that have significantly changed the way we conventionally think about managing software development and sustainment are the family of development approaches collectively referred to as agile methods, and the distribution of development efforts on a global scale. When you combine the two strategies, organizations have to address not only the technical challenges that arise from introducing new ways of working, but more importantly have to manage the 'soft' factors that if ignored lead to hard challenges. Using two case studies of distributed agile software development in India we illustrate the areas that organizations need to be aware of when transitioning work to India. The key issues that we emphasize are the need to recruit and retain personnel; the importance of teaching, mentoring and coaching; the need to manage customer expectations; the criticality of well-articulated senior leadership vision and commitment; and the reality of operating in a heterogeneous process environment.

  1. "Thinking as Someone Else": Using Avatars in Teacher Education and the Challenge to Think and Act as Someone Else

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wasmuth, Helge

    2016-01-01

    This article discusses an alternative learning project that was conducted in an online course at a teacher education program from Fall 2012 to Fall 2015. As part of the course, students had to create avatars, an alter ego, and think and act as their avatars when faced with educational issues. The project strives to overcome challenges that teacher…

  2. Creating Thinking Schools through "Knowledge and Inquiry": The Curriculum Challenges for Singapore

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan, Charlene

    2006-01-01

    The importance of thinking skills in Singapore was seen in the launch of the "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" (TSLN) vision in 1997. This vision aims to develop creative thinking skills, a lifelong passion for learning and nationalistic commitment in the young. In elucidating the concept of "thinking schools" the former…

  3. Faculty Perceptions of Critical Thinking at a Health Sciences University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowles, Joie; Morgan, Christine; Burns, Shari; Merchant, Christine

    2013-01-01

    The fostering of critical thinking skills has become an expectation of faculty, especially those teaching in the health sciences. The manner in which critical thinking is defined by faculty impacts how they will address the challenge to promote critical thinking among their students. This study reports the perceptions of critical thinking held by…

  4. Adolescents' Social Reasoning about Relational Aggression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldstein, Sara E.; Tisak, Marie S.

    2010-01-01

    We examined early adolescents' reasoning about relational aggression, and the links that their reasoning has to their own relationally aggressive behavior. Thinking about relational aggression was compared to thinking about physical aggression, conventional violations, and personal behavior. In individual interviews, adolescents (N = 103) rated…

  5. Critical Thinking: The Role of Management Education. Developing Managers To Think Critically.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pierce, Gloria

    Emphasizing critical thinking as the source of renewal and survival of organizations, this document begins by analyzing the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger as examples of inadequate critical thinking. The role of management education in promoting critical thinking is explored as well as the need for a…

  6. Practical Challenges of Systems Thinking and Modeling in Public Health

    PubMed Central

    Trochim, William M.; Cabrera, Derek A.; Milstein, Bobby; Gallagher, Richard S.; Leischow, Scott J.

    2006-01-01

    Objectives. Awareness of and support for systems thinking and modeling in the public health field are growing, yet there are many practical challenges to implementation. We sought to identify and describe these challenges from the perspectives of practicing public health professionals. Methods. A systems-based methodology, concept mapping, was used in a study of 133 participants from 2 systems-based public health initiatives (the Initiative for the Study and Implementation of Systems and the Syndemics Prevention Network). This method identified 100 key challenges to implementation of systems thinking and modeling in public health work. Results. The project resulted in a map identifying 8 categories of challenges and the dynamic interactions among them. Conclusions. Implementation by public health professionals of the 8 simple rules we derived from the clusters in the map identified here will help to address challenges and improve the organization of systems that protect the public’s health. PMID:16449581

  7. The impact of rigorous mathematical thinking as learning method toward geometry understanding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nugraheni, Z.; Budiyono, B.; Slamet, I.

    2018-05-01

    To reach higher order thinking skill, needed to be mastered the conceptual understanding. RMT is a unique realization of the cognitive conceptual construction approach based on Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) theory by Feurstein and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. This was quasi experimental research which was comparing the experimental class that was given Rigorous Mathematical Thinking (RMT) as learning method and control class that was given Direct Learning (DL) as the conventional learning activity. This study examined whether there was different effect of two learning method toward conceptual understanding of Junior High School students. The data was analyzed by using Independent t-test and obtained a significant difference of mean value between experimental and control class on geometry conceptual understanding. Further, by semi-structure interview known that students taught by RMT had deeper conceptual understanding than students who were taught by conventional way. By these result known that Rigorous Mathematical Thinking (RMT) as learning method have positive impact toward Geometry conceptual understanding.

  8. Developing Critical Thinking Skills for Information Seeking Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wallace, Elise D.; Jefferson, Renee N.

    2013-01-01

    Critical thinking skills are required to successfully navigate the overwhelming amount of information sources available today. To address the challenge of developing critical thinking skills, this empirical study examines the effectiveness of exercises in developing thinking skills in college freshmen students. The workbook exercises were designed…

  9. Extending Students' Mathematical Thinking during Whole-Group Discussions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cengiz, Nesrin; Kline, Kate; Grant, Theresa J.

    2011-01-01

    Studies show that extending students' mathematical thinking during whole-group discussions is a challenging undertaking. To better understand what extending student thinking looks like and how teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) supports teachers in their efforts to extend student thinking, the teaching of six experienced…

  10. Creative Conservation Communication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Houston, Jason

    2015-04-01

    I am a fellow with the International League of Conservation photographers (iLCP) and have been focused on photographing conservation dynamics at the intersection of social and environmental issues for a decade. Subjects have included traditional concerns such as deforestation, water conservation, endangered species, and fisheries. However, I rarely make photographs of the traditional nature, wildlife, landscapes, or environmental atrocities that most people think of when they think about environmentalism. Instead, I photograph people and how they live on the planet, as I believe passionately that without also considering social and cultural concerns, we will not be able to effectively and sustainably do conservation work or achieve positive environmental change. My presentation will share recent photography projects on forest conservation in Indonesian Borneo and fisheries management in Central America where I used a 'stakeholder profile-based' process to broadly survey the complexity of the issues while also making personal connections for these projects' diverse audiences. Through these case studies I will explore the opportunities and challenges of combining the authenticity, accuracy, and scientific validity of journalistic and documentary work with the emotional impact of the conventions of art and storytelling.

  11. Critical Thinking Skills of Students through Mathematics Learning with ASSURE Model Assisted by Software Autograph

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kristianti, Y.; Prabawanto, S.; Suhendra, S.

    2017-09-01

    This study aims to examine the ability of critical thinking and students who attain learning mathematics with learning model ASSURE assisted Autograph software. The design of this study was experimental group with pre-test and post-test control group. The experimental group obtained a mathematics learning with ASSURE-assisted model Autograph software and the control group acquired the mathematics learning with the conventional model. The data are obtained from the research results through critical thinking skills tests. This research was conducted at junior high school level with research population in one of junior high school student in Subang Regency of Lesson Year 2016/2017 and research sample of class VIII student in one of junior high school in Subang Regency for 2 classes. Analysis of research data is administered quantitatively. Quantitative data analysis was performed on the normalized gain level between the two sample groups using a one-way anova test. The results show that mathematics learning with ASSURE assisted model Autograph software can improve the critical thinking ability of junior high school students. Mathematical learning using ASSURE-assisted model Autograph software is significantly better in improving the critical thinking skills of junior high school students compared with conventional models.

  12. Enhancing Critical Thinking by Teaching Two Distinct Approaches to Management

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dyck, Bruno; Walker, Kent; Starke, Frederick A.; Uggerslev, Krista

    2012-01-01

    The authors explore the effect on students' critical thinking of teaching only one approach to management versus teaching two approaches to management. Results from a quasiexperiment--which included a survey, interviews, and case analysis--suggest that compared with students who are taught only a conventional approach to management (which…

  13. Elastic "I Think": Stretching over L1 and L2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Grace Q.; Sabet, Peyman G. P.

    2016-01-01

    While there has been insightful research on the commonly used expression "I think" (IT), this study introduces a non-conventional and innovative conception of elasticity (Zhang 2011), bringing together several properties of IT. Drawn on large-scale naturally occurring classroom data with a rare combination of linguistically and…

  14. Functional Thinking for Managing Challenging Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allday, R. Allan

    2018-01-01

    Challenging student behavior remains one of the biggest trials for classroom teachers. Understanding why a student performs a specific behavior is important in determining how to develop an intervention that targets the function of the behavior. This column focuses on how thinking functionally about behavior can help teachers understand why…

  15. Plastic Drill Bits

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roman, Harry T.

    2013-01-01

    This article encourages students to think multidimensionally and in a multidisciplinary fashion with this challenge, and choose a team that can support this kind of thinking. Presented is a challenge in which a major home improvement company makes tools and accessories for use by experienced and new homeowners. This company would like to provide…

  16. Expanding Access to Malaria Diagnosis through Retail Shops in Western Kenya: What Do Shop Workers Think?

    PubMed

    Rusk, Andria; Goodman, Catherine; Naanyu, Violet; Koech, Beatrice; Obala, Andrew; O'Meara, Wendy Prudhomme

    2013-01-01

    Background. The common symptoms of malaria reduce the specificity of clinical diagnosis. Presumptive treatment is conventional but can lead to overdiagnosis of malaria, delay of appropriate treatment, overprescription of antimalarials, and drug resistance. Routine use of diagnostic tests can address many of these concerns. Though treatment is often procured from retailers, there is low availability of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (MRDTs), a simple, inexpensive, and accurate diagnostic solution. We know little about the challenges to expanding access to diagnostics through these outlets. Methods. To understand the perceptions of the benefits and challenges to selling rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, we conducted focus group discussions with antimalarial retailers who serve the residents of the Webuye Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in western Kenya. Results. Medicine retailers perceived MRDTs to be beneficial to their customers and businesses but also included cost, fear of the tests, risks of self-treatment, and regulatory concerns among the challenges to using and selling MRDTs. Conclusion. MRDTs represent a viable approach to increase access to malaria diagnostic testing. Medicine retailers are eager for MRDTs to be made available to them. However, certain challenges remain to implementation in retail outlets and should be addressed in advance.

  17. What Makes Critical Thinking Critical for Adult ESL Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miekley, Joshua P.

    2014-01-01

    Critical-thinking skills help to prepare adult education students for a successful transition to college degree programs and for job advancement. Yet fostering critical thinking poses a challenge to ESL instructors. Brookfield (2012) provides a way forward for adult educators when he explains that the crux of critical thinking is to discover one's…

  18. Using Word Clouds in Online Discussions to Support Critical Thinking and Engagement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    deNoyelles, Aimee; Reyes-Foster, Beatriz

    2015-01-01

    Being actively engaged in a task is often associated with critical thinking. Cultivating critical thinking skills, such as purposefully reflecting and analyzing one's own thinking, is a major goal of higher education. However, there is a challenge in providing college students opportunities to clearly demonstrate these skills in online courses.…

  19. The Importance of Undisciplined Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burger, Edward

    2012-01-01

    This past year, Baylor University created a program to reward some of its best teachers and challenge them to do something truly daring: teach their students how to think--not just how to think "about" course material, but rather how to think "through" the material. The idea is to help students learn how teachers, as…

  20. Thinking about "Design Thinking": A Study of Teacher Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Retna, Kala S.

    2016-01-01

    Schools are continuously looking for new ways of enhancing student learning to equip students with skills that would enable them to cope with twenty-first century demands. One promising approach focuses on design thinking. This study examines teacher's perceptions, experiences and challenges faced in adopting design thinking. There is a lack of…

  1. Global Perspectives: Developing Media Literacy Skills to Advance Critical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Radeloff, Cheryl L.; Bergman, Barbara J.

    2009-01-01

    Women's studies and feminist curricula have been lauded for the development and application of critical thinking skills for social and political change in its students (Fisher; Kellner and Share; Mayberry). Critical thinking can be defined as the ability to identify and challenge assumptions, to search for alternative ways of thinking, and to…

  2. Enhanced Critical Thinking Skills through Problem-Solving Games in Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDonald, Scott Douglas

    2017-01-01

    Aim/Purpose: Students face many challenges improving their soft skills such as critical thinking. This paper offers one possible solution to this problem. Background: This paper considers one method of enhancing critical thinking through a problem-solving game called the Coffee Shop. Problem-solving is a key component to critical thinking, and…

  3. Visible Thinking in High School Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sliman, Emily

    2013-01-01

    If a teacher asked their students what thinking looks like, what would they say? Would they just look at the teacher quizzically? The question is challenging because thinking is largely an invisible endeavor, and developing thoughtful students can be a daunting task. However, the job of mathematics teachers is to develop students who think about…

  4. The Effect of Concept Attainment Model on Mathematically Critical Thinking Ability of The University Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Angraini, L. M.; Kartasasmita, B.; Dasari, D.

    2017-02-01

    This study examined the university students’ mathematically critical thinking ability through Concept Attainment Model learning. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Levene test, t test, ANOVA one and two ways were used to analyse the data. The results of this study showed that (1) there is no difference grade on the student’s mathematical critical thinking ability between experimental group and conventional group as a whole, (2) there is no difference on the students’ mathematical critical thinking ability of experimental classes based on their mathematical early ability (3) there is no interaction between the learning that is used with the students’ mathematical early ability on the students’ mathematical critical thinking ability.

  5. Work with Us | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Work With Us Work with Us Think big. Think broadly. Think boldly. Bring NREL your biggest energy , and government could work together on the most complex and important global energy challenges of our

  6. Critical Thinking Development in Undergraduate Engineering Students from Freshman through Senior Year: A 3-Cohort Longitudinal Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ralston, Patricia A.; Bays, Cathy L.

    2015-01-01

    Critical thinking is considered a necessary learning outcome for all college students and essential for academic and career success. There are many challenges to developing a comprehensive approach to teaching and assessing critical thinking skills. Although the literature has many examples of the incorporation of critical thinking and assessment…

  7. The Correlation of Critical Thinking Disposition and Approaches to Learning among Baccalaureate Nursing Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kabeel, Abeer Refaat; Eisa, Sahar Abd El-Mohsen Mosa

    2016-01-01

    Background: Part of the 21st century skills is critical thinking and learning approaches of students. A part of that resurgence can be attributable to several studies on critical thinking, logic, and thinking skills. Health care professionals are challenged by the complexities of the health care environment. The practice of nursing requires…

  8. The Network Concept of Creativity and Deep Thinking: Applications to Social Opinion Formation and Talent Support

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Csermely, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Our century has unprecedented new challenges, which need creative solutions and deep thinking. Contemplative, deep thinking became an "endangered species" in our rushing world of Tweets, elevator pitches, and fast decisions. Here, we describe how important aspects of both creativity and deep thinking can be understood as network…

  9. Global-minded Human Resources and Expectations for Universities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Inoue, Hiroshi

    Under the globalized economy, Japanese corporations compete with rivals of the western countries and emerging economies. And domestically, they face with deflation, falling birth-rate, an aging society, and shrinking market. So they need to foster and retain global-minded human resources who can play an active role in global business, and who can drive innovation. What Japanese corporations expect for global-minded human resources are ability to meet challenges, ability to think independently free from conventional wisdom, communication skills in foreign languages, interests in foreign cultures and different values, and so on. In order to foster global-minded human resources, Keidanren work with the 13 universities selected under the Japanese Government‧s “Global 30” projects to undertake “Global-minded Human Resources Development Projects” .

  10. Complex systems thinking in emergency medicine: A novel paradigm for a rapidly changing and interconnected health care landscape.

    PubMed

    Widmer, Matthew A; Swanson, R Chad; Zink, Brian J; Pines, Jesse M

    2017-12-27

    The specialty of emergency medicine is experiencing the convergence of a number of transformational forces in the United States, including health care reform, technological advancements, and societal shifts. These bring both opportunity and uncertainty. 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES: Persistent challenges such as the opioid epidemic, rising health care costs, misaligned incentives, patients with multiple chronic diseases, and emergency department crowding continue to plague the acute, unscheduled care system. The traditional approach to health care practice and improvement-reductionism-is not adequate for the complexity of the twenty-first century. Reductionist thinking will likely continue to produce unintended consequences and suboptimal outcomes. Complex systems thinking provides a perspective and set of tools better suited for the challenges and opportunities facing public health in general, and emergency medicine more specifically. This article introduces complex systems thinking and argues for its application in the context of emergency medicine by drawing on the history of the circumstances surrounding the formation of the specialty and by providing examples of its application to several practice challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. [Comparison of the English titles of articles in Chinese and foreign academic journals: influences of difference between China and the foreign in thinking and psychology].

    PubMed

    Wang, Jie-hua

    2006-11-01

    By analyzing the East-West difference in psychology and thinking patterns, the author compared the frequency of conventional words applied and the usage of subtitle, as well as the selection of sentence structure in title of articles, and thus advocated that the differences of attention psychology and thinking patterns, linear in the West and spiral in China, were the primary causes for different expressions of articles' title.

  12. Computational thinking and thinking about computing

    PubMed Central

    Wing, Jeannette M.

    2008-01-01

    Computational thinking will influence everyone in every field of endeavour. This vision poses a new educational challenge for our society, especially for our children. In thinking about computing, we need to be attuned to the three drivers of our field: science, technology and society. Accelerating technological advances and monumental societal demands force us to revisit the most basic scientific questions of computing. PMID:18672462

  13. The 21st Century: Meeting the Challenges to Business Education. National Business Education Association Yearbook, No. 37.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Villee, Pat A. Gallo, Ed.; Curran, Michael G., Ed.

    This yearbook examines six themes representative of the challenges to future business educators. "The Future We Create" (Arthur McEntee) discusses them: a thinking curriculum, opportunities for real-world learning, matching teaching and learning styles, teachers as knowledge facilitators, technology as a learning tool, and global thinking for a…

  14. Virtual Academic Community: Online Education Instructors' Social Presence in Association with Freshman Composition Students' Critical Thinking and Argumentation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paquette, Paige Fuller

    2009-01-01

    There is much literature addressing challenges face-to-face freshman composition instructors encounter in developing college courses that foster critical thinking skills crucial to developing written argument. Composition instructors may face challenges in teaching students that writing is a means of making meaning, there are many different…

  15. Redefining U.S. Arctic Strategy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-15

    responsibility shifts 21 Barno, David and Nora Bensahel. The Anti-Access Challenge you’re not thinking...International Affairs 85, no. 6 (2009). 38 Barno, David and Nora Bensahel. THE ANTI-ACCESS CHALLENGE YOU’RE NOT THINKING ABOUT, 05 May 2015...and Rescue in the Arctic, 22 June 2011. Arctic Council Secretariat. About the Arctic Council, Arctic Council, 2011. Barno, David and Nora

  16. Towards Achieving a Critical Thinking Society in Malaysia: A Challenge to School Libraries and Educational Systems.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yaacob, Raja Abdullah; Seman, Norma Abur

    One of the challenges facing Malaysia amidst its economic development is the achievement of a critical thinking society. This would enhance and guarantee the success of research and development programs in addition to having other socioeconomic effects. This paper covers the following topics: Vision 2020, Malaysia's goal to reach developed nation…

  17. Engaging Adolescents with LD in Higher Order Thinking about History Concepts Using Integrated Content Enhancement Routines

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bulgren, Janis; Deshler, Donald D.; Lenz, B. Keith

    2007-01-01

    The understanding and use of historical concepts specified in national history standards pose many challenges to students. These challenges include both the acquisition of content knowledge and the use of that knowledge in ways that require higher order thinking. All students, including adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), are expected to…

  18. A K-6 Computational Thinking Curriculum Framework: Implications for Teacher Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Angeli, Charoula; Voogt, Joke; Fluck, Andrew; Webb, Mary; Cox, Margaret; Malyn-Smith, Joyce; Zagami, Jason

    2016-01-01

    Adding computer science as a separate school subject to the core K-6 curriculum is a complex issue with educational challenges. The authors herein address two of these challenges: (1) the design of the curriculum based on a generic computational thinking framework, and (2) the knowledge teachers need to teach the curriculum. The first issue is…

  19. [The development of the ethical thinking in children and the teaching of ethics in pediatrics].

    PubMed

    Lejarraga, Horacio

    2008-10-01

    The child's ethical thinking is not installed in his mind as a single act, but as a consequence of an evolving process. Kohlberg, based on Piaget's studies, described three main developmental stages: preconventional, conventional and post conventional. However, Vigostky and others emphasized the importance of the environment for the moral sculpture of children. Three models can be recognised for teaching ethics in children: the deontological way, the descriptive way, and the only one morally acceptable: the one used by Socrates, by which ethics becomes not merely an adjective, but an institutionalised social practice built on axiological basis.

  20. Defining Computational Thinking for Mathematics and Science Classrooms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weintrop, David; Beheshti, Elham; Horn, Michael; Orton, Kai; Jona, Kemi; Trouille, Laura; Wilensky, Uri

    2016-02-01

    Science and mathematics are becoming computational endeavors. This fact is reflected in the recently released Next Generation Science Standards and the decision to include "computational thinking" as a core scientific practice. With this addition, and the increased presence of computation in mathematics and scientific contexts, a new urgency has come to the challenge of defining computational thinking and providing a theoretical grounding for what form it should take in school science and mathematics classrooms. This paper presents a response to this challenge by proposing a definition of computational thinking for mathematics and science in the form of a taxonomy consisting of four main categories: data practices, modeling and simulation practices, computational problem solving practices, and systems thinking practices. In formulating this taxonomy, we draw on the existing computational thinking literature, interviews with mathematicians and scientists, and exemplary computational thinking instructional materials. This work was undertaken as part of a larger effort to infuse computational thinking into high school science and mathematics curricular materials. In this paper, we argue for the approach of embedding computational thinking in mathematics and science contexts, present the taxonomy, and discuss how we envision the taxonomy being used to bring current educational efforts in line with the increasingly computational nature of modern science and mathematics.

  1. Teaching Tree-Thinking to Undergraduate Biology Students.

    PubMed

    Meisel, Richard P

    2010-07-27

    Evolution is the unifying principle of all biology, and understanding how evolutionary relationships are represented is critical for a complete understanding of evolution. Phylogenetic trees are the most conventional tool for displaying evolutionary relationships, and "tree-thinking" has been coined as a term to describe the ability to conceptualize evolutionary relationships. Students often lack tree-thinking skills, and developing those skills should be a priority of biology curricula. Many common student misconceptions have been described, and a successful instructor needs a suite of tools for correcting those misconceptions. I review the literature on teaching tree-thinking to undergraduate students and suggest how this material can be presented within an inquiry-based framework.

  2. The Constructionism and Neurocognitive-Based Teaching Model for Promoting Science Learning Outcomes and Creative Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sripongwiwat, Supathida; Bunterm, Tassanee; Srisawat, Niwat; Tang, Keow Ngang

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the effect, after intervention on both experimental and control groups, of constructionism and neurocognitive-based teaching model, and conventional teaching model, on the science learning outcomes and creative thinking of Grade 11 students. The researchers developed a constructionism and neurocognitive-based…

  3. Compulsory Participation in Online Discussions: Is This Constructivism or Normalisation of Learning?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gulati, Shalni

    2008-01-01

    A constructivist approach in teaching and learning requires one to change various habitual ways for thinking (von Glasersfeld 1995). There is a need for different ways of thinking and doing things, if conventional education is to realise a constructivist worldview. Educators and trainers in both academic and work sectors are promoting the use of…

  4. Instructional Model and Thinking Skill in Chemistry Class

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Langkudi, H. H.

    2018-02-01

    Chemistry course are considered a difficult lesson for students as evidenced by low learning outcomes on daily tests, mid-semester tests as well as final semester tests. This research intended to investigate the effect of instructional model, thinking skill and the interaction of these variables on students’ achievement in chemistry. Experimental method was applying used 2 x 2 factorial design. The results showed that the use of instructional model with thinking skill influences student’s learning outcomes, so that the chemistry teacher is recommended to pay attention to the learning model, and adjusted to the student’s skill thinking on the chemistry material being taught. The conclusion of this research is that discovery model is suitable for students who have formal thinking skill and conventional model is fit for the students that have concrete thinking skill.

  5. Systems thinking and ethics in public health: a necessary and mutually beneficial partnership.

    PubMed

    Silva, Diego S; Smith, Maxwell J; Norman, Cameron D

    2018-06-13

    Systems thinking has emerged as a means of conceptualizing and addressing complex public health problems, thereby challenging more commonplace understanding of problems and corresponding solutions as straightforward explanations of cause and effect. Systems thinking tries to address the complexity of problems through qualitative and quantitative modeling based on a variety of systems theories, each with their own assumptions and, more importantly, implicit and unexamined values. To date, however, there has been little engagement between systems scientists and those working in bioethics and public health ethics. The goal of this paper is to begin to consider what it might mean to combine systems thinking with public health ethics to solve public health challenges. We argue that there is a role for ethics in systems thinking in public health as a means of elucidating implicit assumptions and facilitating ethics debate and dialogue with key stakeholders.

  6. Cultivating interpretive thinking through enacting narrative pedagogy.

    PubMed

    Scheckel, Martha M; Ironside, Pamela M

    2006-01-01

    Teachers and educational researchers in nursing have persisted in their attempts to teach students critical thinking and to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts. Yet, despite the plethora of studies investigating critical thinking, there is a paucity of research providing evidence that teachers' efforts improve students' thinking. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study is to explicate how students' thinking can be extended when teachers use Narrative Pedagogy. Specifically, the theme Cultivating Interpretive Thinking refers to how teachers' use of Narrative Pedagogy moves beyond the critical thinking movement's emphasis on analytical thinking (i.e., problem solving). Cultivating Interpretive Thinking offers an innovative approach for teaching and learning thinking that attends to students' embodied, reflective, and pluralistic thinking experiences. Teachers who cultivate interpretive thinking add complexity to students' thinking to better prepare them for challenging, complex, and unpredictable clinical environments.

  7. The attitude and perceptions of work-life balance: a comparison among women surgeons in Japan, USA, and Hong Kong China.

    PubMed

    Kawase, Kazumi; Kwong, Ava; Yorozuya, Kyoko; Tomizawa, Yasuko; Numann, Patricia J; Sanfey, Hilary

    2013-01-01

    The objective of the present study was to explore how women surgeons manage their work-life balance in three environmental and cultural settings. Members of the Japan Association of Women Surgeons (JAWS), the United States of America (US) based Association of Women Surgeons (AWS), and the Women's Chapter of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong (WCHK) were surveyed. Among 822 women surgeons contacted, 252 responded (response rate 31.8 %; 55.5 % JAWS, 28.2 % AWS, and 25.3 % WCHK). Japanese women surgeons think that work is the number one priority, whereas US and Hong Kong China (HK) respondents think the number one priority is home life. Work satisfaction level was generally high among women surgeons in all countries; however, 19 % of US surgeons are somewhat dissatisfied with their work and 76.1 % think that men are treated more favorably than women at work. Whereas 51.6 % of Japanese women surgeons think that men are treated more favorably than women at home, at the same time they placed more importance on the role of women in the family. More than half of Japanese women surgeons are "uncertain" about their career path in the future, whereas 55.2/87.1 % of US/HK respondents are optimistic. All surgeons recommended expanding support for child rearing or nursing care during work hours, promoting a flexible work schedule and changing some of the older conventional ideas about gender role. It is essential to address women surgeons' concerns to enable them to have a clearer vision and a challenging career, and to be more certain about their personal and professional goals.

  8. Development of a Test to Evaluate Students' Analytical Thinking Based on Fact versus Opinion Differentiation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thaneerananon, Taveep; Triampo, Wannapong; Nokkaew, Artorn

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges of education in Thailand is the development and promotion of the students' thinking skills. The main purposes of this research were to develop an analytical thinking test for 6th grade students and evaluate the students' analytical thinking. The sample was composed of 3,567 6th grade students in 2014…

  9. Cultivating Peace through Design Thinking: Problem Solving with PAST Foundation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deaner, Kat; McCreery-Kellert, Heather

    2018-01-01

    Design thinking is a methodology that emphasizes reasoning and decision-making as part of the problem-solving process. It is a structured framework for identifying challenges, gathering information, generating potential solutions, refining ideas, and testing solutions. Design thinking offers valuable skills that will serve students well as they…

  10. Empowering Critical Thinking Skills with Computerized Patient Simulators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farrar, Francisca Cisneros; Suggs, Leslie

    2010-01-01

    Students struggle with the mastery of critical thinking skills which are essential to their academic success. University faculty are challenged to create teaching strategies to help students build critical thinking skills. Nursing faculty at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee looked to research and technology for ways to…

  11. Creative and Critical Thinking, Teamwork, and Tomorrow's Workplace

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gould, J. Christine; Schoonover, Patricia F.

    2009-01-01

    Creative and critical thinking have been identified by Isaksen, Dorval, and Treffinger (2000) as the ability to "perceive gaps, challenges, or concerns; think of many varied or unusual possibilities; or elaborate and extend alternatives," as well as make meaningful connections that include analyzing, evaluating, and developing options.…

  12. Debating Our Way toward Stronger Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Field, Kathryn

    2017-01-01

    Teachers often find it challenging to incorporate higher order thinking skills in ways that both inspire student interest and allow for meaningful differentiation. Structured debate is an activity that can facilitate all of these goals. This article explains, in detail, how debates can be structured to promote a variety of critical thinking skills…

  13. Understanding "Change" through Spatial Thinking Using Google Earth in Secondary Geography

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xiang, X.; Liu, Y.

    2017-01-01

    Understanding geographic changes has become an indispensable element in geography education. Describing and analyzing changes in space require spatial thinking skills emphasized in geography curriculum but often pose challenges for secondary school students. This school-based research targets a specific strand of spatial thinking skills and…

  14. Developing Critical Thinking Skills: Assessing the Effectiveness of Workbook Exercises

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wallace, Elise D.; Jefferson, Renee N.

    2015-01-01

    To address the challenge of developing critical thinking skills in college students, this empirical study examines the effectiveness of cognitive exercises in developing those skills. The study uses Critical Thinking: Building the Basics by Walter, Knudsvig, and Smith (2003). This workbook is specifically designed to exercise and develop critical…

  15. The role of local theories: teacher knowledge and its impact on engaging students with challenging tasks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choppin, Jeffrey

    2011-03-01

    This study explores the extent to which a teacher elicited students' mathematical reasoning through the use of challenging tasks and the role her knowledge played in doing so. I characterised the teacher's knowledge in terms of a local theory of instruction, a form of pedagogical content knowledge that involves an empirically tested set of conjectures situated within a mathematical domain. Video data were collected and analysed and used to stimulate the teacher's reflection on her enactments of an instructional sequence. The teacher, chosen for how she consistently elicited student reasoning, showed evidence of possessing a local theory in that she articulated the ways student thinking developed over time, the processes by which that thinking developed, and the resources that facilitated the development of student thinking. Her knowledge informed how she revised and enacted challenging tasks in ways that elicited and refined student thinking around integer addition and subtraction. Furthermore, her knowledge and practices emphasised the progressive formalisation of students' ideas as a key learning process. A key implication of this study is that teachers are able to develop robust knowledge from enacting challenging tasks, knowledge that organises how they elicit and refine student reasoning from those tasks.

  16. Spatial Congruity Effects Reveal Metaphorical Thinking, not Polarity Correspondence.

    PubMed

    Dolscheid, Sarah; Casasanto, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Spatial congruity effects have often been interpreted as evidence for metaphorical thinking, but an alternative account based on polarity correspondence (a.k.a. markedness) has challenged this view. Here we compared metaphor- and polarity-correspondence-based explanations for spatial congruity effects, using musical pitch as a testbed. In one experiment, English speakers classified high- and low-frequency pitches as "high" and "low," or as "front" and "back," to determine whether space-pitch congruity effects could be elicited by any marked spatial continuum. Although both pairs of terms describe bipolar spatial continuums, we found congruity effects only for high/low judgments, indicating that markedness is not sufficient to produce space-pitch congruity effects. A second experiment confirmed that there were no space-pitch congruity effects for another pair of terms that have clear markedness (big/small), but which do not denote spatial height. By contrast, this experiment showed congruity effects for words that cued an appropriate vertical spatial schema (tall/short), even though these words are not used conventionally in English to describe pitches, ruling out explanations for the observed pattern of results based on verbal polysemy. Together, results suggest that space-pitch congruity effects reveal metaphorical uses of spatial schemas, not polarity correspondence effects.

  17. Decision Making and Systems Thinking: Educational Issues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yurtseven, M. Kudret; Buchanan, Walter W.

    2016-01-01

    Decision making in most universities is taught within the conventional OR/MS (Operations Research/Management Science) paradigm. This paradigm is known to be "hard" since it is consisted of mathematical tools, and normally suitable for solving structured problems. In complex situations the conventional OR/MS paradigm proves to be…

  18. Developing Students' Critical Thinking Skills through Visual Literacy in the New Secondary School Curriculum in Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheung, Chi-Kim; Jhaveri, Aditi Dubey

    2016-01-01

    This paper argues that the planned introduction of visual literacy into the New Secondary School Curriculum can play a crucial role in enabling students to think critically and creatively in Hong Kong's highly visual landscape. As Hong Kong's educational system remains entrenched in long-established and conventional pedagogies, the primacy given…

  19. Expanding Access to Malaria Diagnosis through Retail Shops in Western Kenya: What Do Shop Workers Think?

    PubMed Central

    Koech, Beatrice; Obala, Andrew; O'Meara, Wendy Prudhomme

    2013-01-01

    Background. The common symptoms of malaria reduce the specificity of clinical diagnosis. Presumptive treatment is conventional but can lead to overdiagnosis of malaria, delay of appropriate treatment, overprescription of antimalarials, and drug resistance. Routine use of diagnostic tests can address many of these concerns. Though treatment is often procured from retailers, there is low availability of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (MRDTs), a simple, inexpensive, and accurate diagnostic solution. We know little about the challenges to expanding access to diagnostics through these outlets. Methods. To understand the perceptions of the benefits and challenges to selling rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, we conducted focus group discussions with antimalarial retailers who serve the residents of the Webuye Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in western Kenya. Results. Medicine retailers perceived MRDTs to be beneficial to their customers and businesses but also included cost, fear of the tests, risks of self-treatment, and regulatory concerns among the challenges to using and selling MRDTs. Conclusion. MRDTs represent a viable approach to increase access to malaria diagnostic testing. Medicine retailers are eager for MRDTs to be made available to them. However, certain challenges remain to implementation in retail outlets and should be addressed in advance. PMID:23766923

  20. Insights in public health: systems thinking: basic constructs, application challenges, misuse in health, and how public health leaders can pave the way forward.

    PubMed

    Canyon, Deon V

    2013-12-01

    The strengthening of health systems is fundamental to improving health outcomes, crisis preparedness, and our capacity to meet global challenges, such as accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, reducing maternal and child mortality, combating HIV, malaria and other diseases, limiting the effects of a new influenza pandemic, and responding appropriately to climate change. To meet these complex needs, the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health, the World Health Organization, and the Institute of Medicine promote systems thinking as the only sensible means to respond to issues that greatly exceed the normal capacity of health and medical services. This paper agrees with the application of systems thinking but argues that health organizations have misunderstood and misapplied systems thinking to the extent that the term has become meaningless. This paper presents the basic constructs of systems thinking, explains why systems thinking has been misapplied, examines some misapplications of systems thinking in health, and suggests how the concept can be applied correctly to medicine and public health to achieve the reason it was adopted in the first place.

  1. Is the geological past a key to the (near) future

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Culotta, E.

    1993-02-12

    Ever since Leonardo da Vinci unearthed beds of fossil marine shells in the Tuscan hills, the record of the past has been challenging conventional theories of climate. Sages of da Vinci's day had a proper explanation for the shells. The clams and snails had drifted into the hills with the waters of the Biblical Flood. But da Vinci didn't think the climatic event chronicled in Genesis could explain the evidence. How, he wondered, could these largely sedentary mollusks have traveled so far in merely 40 days He concluded that the received wisdom was wrong: The marine organisms had lived andmore » died in a vanished sea, just where he found them. But, perhaps fearing papal displeasure, he never published his conclusions.« less

  2. PV FAQs: Does the world have enough materials for PV to help address climate change?

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    2005-06-01

    In the ongoing discussion of what needs to be done to stabilize atmospheric CO2 by mid-century (Hoffert 1998), one possible option would be to add about 10-20 terawatts (trillion watts, or TW) of photovoltaics (PV) in place of conventional sources. PV would help because, unlike burning fossil fuels, it produces no CO2. However, 10-20 TW is an enormous amount of energy. In peak Watts, the way PV installations are generally rated, it is about 50-100 TWpeak (TWp) of PV. Would we have enough materials to make this much PV? As we explain in this PV FAQ, we think our planetmore » has enough feedstock materials for PV to meet the ''TW challenge.''« less

  3. Thinking inside the Box

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Demski, Jennifer

    2012-01-01

    When one thinks of 21st century schools, one thinks of geometric modern architecture, sustainable building materials, and high-tech modular classrooms. It's rare, though, that a district has the space or the money to build that school from the ground up. Instead, the challenge for most is the transformation of the 20th century architecture to…

  4. How Are We Going to Transform Education? A Roundtable

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Russian Education and Society, 2011

    2011-01-01

    Changes in the kinds of technology used in modern society are changing the ways in which people think. Russian students, like those elsewhere, are increasingly thinking in terms of short, unconnected forms of knowledge and are losing the ability to see connections, to think holistically. This presents a special challenge to education in Russia.

  5. Using Teacher Questions to Enhance EFL Students' Critical Thinking Ability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feng, Zhiwen

    2013-01-01

    In this era of information and economic globalization, developing critical thinking skills in college students has been set as a primary goal and learning outcome in higher education. Teaching critical thinking, however, is a great challenge to most EFL teachers. This article, therefore, attempts to examine the nature and teachability of critical…

  6. Higher Order Thinking Skills: Challenging All Students to Achieve

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, R. Bruce

    2007-01-01

    Explicit instruction in thinking skills must be a priority goal of all teachers. In this book, the author presents a framework of the five Rs: Relevancy, Richness, Relatedness, Rigor, and Recursiveness. The framework serves to illuminate instruction in critical and creative thinking skills for K-12 teachers across content areas. Each chapter…

  7. "Un"complicated Technologies and Erstwhile Aids: How PowerPoint, the Internet, and Political Cartoons Can Elicit Engagement and Challenge Thinking in New Ways

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bickford, J. H., III

    2010-01-01

    This paper is based on three beliefs. First, technology can engage and challenge students' thinking. Second, technology can assist students in creating quality work. Finally, computer-generated student-work can be used as educational tools in productive ways that other student-work cannot. This article suggests new ways to use old technologies to…

  8. Promoting Reflexive Thinking and Adaptive Expertise through Video Capturing to Challenge Postgraduate Primary Student Teachers to Think, Know, Feel, and Act Like a Teacher

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sexton, Steven S.; Williamson-Leadley, Sandra

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on a study of how a 1-year, course-taught, master's level initial teacher education (ITE) program challenged primary student teachers (n = 4) in developing their sense of self-as-teacher. This study examined how the program's incorporation of video capturing technology impacted on these student teachers' development of…

  9. Brazil's Higher Education Responses to the Global Challenges of the 21st Century. Thinking Brazil. No. 23

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2006

    2006-01-01

    "Thinking Brazil" is an electronic publication of the Brazil Institute. This issue of "Thinking Brazil" highlights the research of Elizabeth Balbachevsky. On July 24, 2006, Elizabeth Balbachevsky, Woodrow Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and Associate Professor of Political Science, Universidade de Sao Paulo, presented her research on the…

  10. Positioning Thinking within National Curriculum and Assessment Systems: Perspectives from Israel, New Zealand and Northern Ireland

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallagher, Carmel; Hipkins, Rosemary; Zohar, Anat

    2012-01-01

    Over the past decade there has been a major move to position "thinking" (however thinking is defined and enacted) as a more explicit outcome within the curriculum of many nations, with implications for teachers' professional development, assessment, and examination requirements. This paper analyses approaches to this challenge taken by…

  11. Two Approaches for Using Web Sharing and Photography Assignments to Increase Critical Thinking in the Health Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walter, Katherine Ott; Baller, Stephanie L.; Kuntz, Aaron M.

    2012-01-01

    Increasing student critical thinking and active engagement with course content is an ongoing challenge in tertiary education. The present article explores the use of photography in two health sciences courses as a catalyst for the encouragement of critical thinking, creativity, engagement, and problem solving. The authors adapted photography…

  12. The TASC Wheel Supports a Honey Bee Challenge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seeley, Claire

    2011-01-01

    The concept of TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) was created by Belle Wallace (Wallace et al., 1993) as a model that can be used to nurture and develop thinking skills. As children work through the TASC wheel, the teacher has a very good opportunity to facilitate explicit conversations about thinking. This allows the children to grow in…

  13. Some Thinking from, and Away from, Heidegger

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mika, Carl

    2016-01-01

    How do we encourage Heidegger's notion of originary thinking in education, and indeed how should one engage with thinking at all? In this response, I consider the challenge that Heidegger lays down for speculation that refers certainty to the unknown. In my answer to the contributors of this special issue, I highlight the fact that all of us are…

  14. A Case Study: Applying Critical Thinking Skills to Computer Science and Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shannon, Li-Jen; Bennett, Judith

    2012-01-01

    A majority of incoming college freshmen and sophomores have not applied their critical thinking skills as part of their learning process. This paper investigates how students acquire their critical thinking skills while facing the copyright, fair use, and internet security challenges in this contemporary digital society. The findings show that 90…

  15. Is Romanian Science School Curricula Open towards the Development of School Students' Critical Thinking Skills?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ciascai, Liliana; Haiduc, Lavinia

    2009-01-01

    Critical thinking is considered to be an important outcome that all students, regardless of their academic major, need to achieve during their undergraduate study. In addition, critical thinking allows students to respond to less-well defined problems and thus to be better prepared for both personal and professional challenges. Taking into…

  16. Thinking, Doing, Talking Science: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hanley, Pam; Slavin, Robert; Elliott, Louise

    2015-01-01

    Thinking, Doing, Talking Science (TDTS) is a programme that aims to make science lessons in primary schools more practical, creative and challenging. Teachers are trained in a repertoire of strategies that aim to encourage pupils to use higher order thinking skills. For example, pupils are posed 'Big Questions,' such as 'How do you know that the…

  17. Relationships between Concept Mapping and Critical Thinking Skills of Vocational Nursing Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carson-Davis, Shirley

    2012-01-01

    The task of developing vocational nursing students' critical thinking abilities is one of the greatest challenges facing nurse educators today. Licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) must be trained to think critically in order to provide safe patient care. Due to the expanded role and functions in the LVN's scope of practice, LVNs are making more…

  18. The Use of Decision Cases to Foster Critical Thinking in Social Work Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milner, Marleen; Wolfer, Terry

    2014-01-01

    This article discusses the vital importance of developing critical thinking skills in social work students and explores the use of case-based instruction as a means of fostering those skills. The challenges inherent in the teaching and assessment of critical thinking are addressed. The history and theoretical underpinnings for the use of decision…

  19. Thinking Out of the Box: A Green and Social Climate Fund Comment on "Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames".

    PubMed

    Ooms, Gorik; Pas, Remco van de; Decoster, Kristof; Hammonds, Rachel

    2016-12-28

    Solomon Benatar's paper "Politics, Power, Poverty and Global Health: Systems and Frames" examines the inequitable state of global health challenging readers to extend the discourse on global health beyond conventional boundaries by addressing the interconnectedness of planetary life. Our response explores existing models of international cooperation, assessing how modifying them may achieve the twin goals of ensuring healthy people and planet. First, we address why the inequality reducing post World War II European welfare model, if implemented state-by-state, is unfit for reducing global inequality and respecting environmental boundaries. Second, we argue that to advance beyond the 'Westphalian,' human centric thinking integral to global inequality and climate change requires challenging the logic of global economic integration and exploring the politically infeasible. In conclusion, we propose social policy focused changes to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and a Green and Social Climate Fund, financed by new global greenhouse gas charges, both of which could advance human and planetary health. Recent global political developments may offer a small window of opportunity for out of the box proposals that could be advanced by concerted and united advocacy by global health activists, environmental activists, human rights activists, and trade unions. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

  20. Thinking Style Diversity and Collaborative Design Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Volpentesta, Antonio P.; Ammirato, Salvatore; Sofo, Francesco

    The paper explores the impact of structured learning experiences that were designed to challenge students’ ways of thinking and promote creativity. The aim was to develop the ability of students, coming from different engineering disciplines and characterized by particular thinking style profiles, to collaboratively work on a project-based learning experience in an educational environment. Three project-based learning experiences were structured using critical thinking methods to stimulate creativity. Pre and post-survey data using a specially modified thinking style inventory for 202 design students indicated a thinking style profile of preferences with a focus on exploring and questioning. Statistically significant results showed students successfully developed empathy and openness to multiple perspectives.

  1. Exploration of critical thinking in dental hygiene education.

    PubMed

    Beistle, Kimberly S; Palmer, Louann Bierlein

    2014-12-01

    This qualitative study explores the perceptions of dental hygiene faculty regarding issues surrounding critical thinking skills integration within their associate degree dental hygiene programs. Twenty faculty participated in the study, as drawn from 11 accredited associate degree dental hygiene programs in one Midwest state. Multiple sources of data were collected, including email questionnaires, individual follow-up phone interviews and artifacts. Interpretive analysis was conducted. Data analysis revealed that faculty generally understood critical thinking, but interpretations varied. Most do not use varied teaching strategies to promote critical thinking skills, and focus on one particular strategy--that of case studies. The participants identified the need for allied health-focused faculty development opportunities, and noted that calibration of instruction was needed. Despite challenges, faculty felt responsible for teaching critical thinking skills, and identified the need for time to build critical thinking skills into the curriculum. This study was conducted in response to the American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation's challenge for dental hygiene educators to comprehend their own knowledge on the concept of critical thinking related to research-based pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. Findings revealed a strong desire among the dental hygiene faculty in this study to incorporate critical thinking into their work. They want to do what they believe is the right thing, but their actual knowledge of the definitional and application theories about critical thinking is still in the early stages of development. Regular and targeted faculty development opportunities are needed. Copyright © 2014 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

  2. Higher Order Thinking Skills among Secondary School Students in Science Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saido, Gulistan Mohammed; Siraj, Saedah; Bin Nordin, Abu Bakar; Al Amedy, Omed Saadallah

    2015-01-01

    A central goal of science education is to help students to develop their higher order thinking skills to enable them to face the challenges of daily life. Enhancing students' higher order thinking skills is the main goal of the Kurdish Science Curriculum in the Iraqi-Kurdistan region. This study aimed at assessing 7th grade students' higher order…

  3. Comparative Effectiveness or Evidence-Based Medical Practice: "A Rose by Any Other Name..."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Langer, Menachem; Langer, Nieli

    2009-01-01

    The goal of education and research in all disciplines is to develop critical thinking skills as a method for improving clinical decisionmaking. The emphasis on critical thinking is nothing new and can be traced back to ancient times when Socrates challenged his students to think about their knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors by interrogating them.…

  4. Why Didn't I Think of That? Dodging Big Ruts for Big Ideas in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shushok, Frank, Jr.

    2014-01-01

    Though educators are a diverse, most collectively believe that they are forward-thinking, creative, and even innovative. This entrepreneurial mind-set can be observed by the uniform response to marketplace inventions such as the iPhone, Redbox, and TED talks. In this article Frank Shushok Jr. challenges educators to "think free."

  5. Using systems thinking in state health policymaking: an educational initiative.

    PubMed

    Minyard, Karen J; Ferencik, Rachel; Ann Phillips, Mary; Soderquist, Chris

    2014-06-01

    In response to limited examples of opportunities for state policymakers to learn about and productively discuss the difficult, adaptive challenges of our health system, the Georgia Health Policy Center developed an educational initiative that applies systems thinking to health policymaking. We created the Legislative Health Policy Certificate Program - an in-depth, multi-session series for lawmakers and their staff - concentrating on building systems thinking competencies and health content knowledge by applying a range of systems thinking tools: behavior over time graphs, stock and flow maps, and a system dynamics-based learning lab (a simulatable model of childhood obesity). Legislators were taught to approach policy issues from the big picture, consider changing dynamics, and explore higher-leverage interventions to address Georgia's most intractable health challenges. Our aim was to determine how we could improve the policymaking process by providing a systems thinking-focused educational program for legislators. Over 3 years, the training program resulted in policymakers' who are able to think more broadly about difficult health issues. The program has yielded valuable insights into the design and delivery of policymaker education that could be applied to various disciplines outside the legislative process.

  6. An analysis of narratives to identify critical thinking contexts in psychiatric clinical practice.

    PubMed

    Mun, Mi Suk

    2010-02-01

    The development of students' critical thinking abilities is one of the greatest challenges facing contemporary nursing educators. Nursing educators should know about what kind of contents or situations need critical thinking. The research was undertaken to identify the critical thinking contexts that nursing students confront in psychiatric clinical practices. Students were asked to document their everyday experience. The narratives were analysed and interpreted from the philosophical notion of hermeneutics. Four themes emerged as critical thinking contexts: anxiety, conflict, hyper-awareness, dilemmas. Writing narratives appear to provide opportunities for reflection in addition to facilitating critical thinking and communicative skills in students. Also, for the instructor, students' clinical narratives could provide insight to understand how students are thinking and to share student's personal difficulties.

  7. Fostering Critical Thinking in the Geosciences: Combining Geoethics, the Affective Domain, Metacognition, and Systems Thinking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mogk, D. W.; Geissman, J. W.

    2015-12-01

    There is a compelling need to develop the geoscience workforce of the future to address the "grand challenges" that face humanity. This workforce must have a strong understanding of Earth history, processes and materials and be able to communicate effectively and responsibly to inform public policy and personal and societal actions, particularly with regard to geohazards and natural resources. Curricula to train future geoscientists must be designed to help students develop critical thinking skills across the curriculum, from introductory to senior capstone courses. Students will be challenged in their pre-professional training as geoscientists as they encounter an incomplete geologic record, ambiguity and uncertainty in observed and experimental results, temporal reasoning ("deep time", frequency, recurrence intervals), spatial reasoning (from microns to mountains), and complex system behavior. Four instructional approaches can be combined to address these challenges and help students develop critical thinking skills: 1) Geoethics and ethical decision making includes review and integration of the context/facts of the situation, stakeholders, decision-makers, and possible alternative actions and expected outcomes; 2) The affective domain which encompasses factors such as student motivation to learn, curiosity, fear, attitudes, perceptions, social barriers and values; 3) Metacognition which encourages students to be aware about their own thinking processes, and to develop self-monitoring and self-regulating behaviors; and 4) Systems thinking which requires integrative thinking about the interactions between physical, chemical, biological and human processes, feedback mechanisms and emergent phenomena. Guided inquiry and scaffolded exercises can be used to present increasingly complex situations that require a thorough understanding of geologic principles and processes as applied to issues of societal concern. These approaches are not "owned" by any single course or instructor, and we encourage all teaching faculty to commit a part of their coursework to develop these critical-thinking skills. A collection of geologic case studies is available at the Teaching Geoethics Across the Geoscience Curriculum website http://serc.carleton.edu/74990.

  8. When Earth Songs Filled the Void of Space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gallagher, Dennis L.

    2003-01-01

    Before the late 50's we had the planets, our Sun, the stars, galaxies, spectacular clouds of dust and very little else in our universe. There was evidence for a highly tenuous "sea" of dust in interstellar space, but little else. Space was empty above the ionized gases of our upper atmosphere, a little like there was no color in the world before the 40's. The clues were there to think otherwise, however, and in the late 50's and early 60's a few researchers dared to challenge the conventional ideas about space. It was a time of discovery and, with our new ability to fly in space, a time that launched a new science. Today that science makes it possible to literally see some of the plasmas that populate near-Earth space, which are now known to exist everywhere.

  9. Thiothixene

    MedlinePlus

    ... disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Thiothixene is in a group of medications called conventional antipsychotics. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain.

  10. Loxapine

    MedlinePlus

    ... disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Loxapine is in a group of medications called conventional antipsychotics. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain.

  11. Molindone

    MedlinePlus

    ... disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Molindone is in a class of medications called conventional (typical) antipsychotics. It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain.

  12. Teaching Strategy: Challenge and Response

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-01

    students have learned in the classroom. Moreover, consultants learn to think multidimensionally, as success depends on their ability to test... think , not what to think . The College has never sought to have a single framework of analysis but to provide the students with the ability to analyze...roles as well as enforce seminar norms that promote quality learning . A fourth learning responsibility for students is the duty to

  13. Milestones of critical thinking: a developmental model for medicine and nursing.

    PubMed

    Papp, Klara K; Huang, Grace C; Lauzon Clabo, Laurie M; Delva, Dianne; Fischer, Melissa; Konopasek, Lyuba; Schwartzstein, Richard M; Gusic, Maryellen

    2014-05-01

    Critical thinking is essential to a health professional's competence to assess, diagnose, and care for patients. Defined as the ability to apply higher-order cognitive skills (conceptualization, analysis, evaluation) and the disposition to be deliberate about thinking (being open-minded or intellectually honest) that lead to action that is logical and appropriate, critical thinking represents a "meta-competency" that transcends other knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors required in health care professions. Despite its importance, the developmental stages of critical thinking have not been delineated for nurses and physicians. As part of a task force of educators who considered different developmental stage theories, the authors have iteratively refined and proposed milestones in critical thinking. The attributes associated with unreflective, beginning, practicing, advanced, accomplished, and challenged critical thinkers are conceived as independent of an individual's level of training. Depending on circumstances and environmental factors, even the most experienced clinician may demonstrate attributes associated with a challenged thinker. The authors use the illustrative case of a patient with abdominal pain to demonstrate how critical thinking may manifest in learners at different stages of development, analyzing how the learner at each stage applies information obtained in the patient interaction to arrive at a differential diagnosis and plan for evaluation. The authors share important considerations and provide this work as a foundation for the development of effective approaches to teaching and promoting critical thinking and to establishing expectations for learners in this essential meta-competency.

  14. Creating Innovative Research Designs: The 10-Year Methodological Think Tank Case Study

    PubMed Central

    Katerndahl, David; Crabtree, Benjamin

    2006-01-01

    PURPOSE Addressing important but complex research questions often necessitates the creation of innovative mixed methods designs. This report describes an approach to developing research designs for studying important but methodologically challenging research questions. METHODS The Methodological Think Tank has been held annually in conjunction with the Primary Care Research Methods and Statistics Conference in San Antonio since 1994. A group of 3 to 4 methodologists with expertise balanced between quantitative and qualitative backgrounds is invited by the think tank coordinators to serve on a 2-day think tank to discuss a research question selected from those submitted in response to a call for proposals. During the first half-day, these experts explore the content area with the investigator, often challenging beliefs and assumptions. During the second half-day, the think tank participants systematically prune potential approaches until a desirable research method is identified. RESULTS To date, the most recent 7 think tanks have produced fundable research designs, with 1 being funded by a K award and 4 by R01 grants. All participating investigators attributed much of their success to think tank participation. Lessons learned include (1) the importance of careful selection of participating methodologists, (2) all think tank communities of inquiry must go through 4 stages of development from pseudocommunity to community, and (3) the critical importance of listening by the investigator. CONCLUSION Researchers and academic departments could use this process locally to develop innovative research designs. PMID:17003146

  15. Problem Based Learning (PBL) - An Effective Approach to Improve Learning Outcomes in Medical Teaching.

    PubMed

    Preeti, Bajaj; Ashish, Ahuja; Shriram, Gosavi

    2013-12-01

    As the "Science of Medicine" is getting advanced day-by-day, need for better pedagogies & learning techniques are imperative. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is an effective way of delivering medical education in a coherent, integrated & focused manner. It has several advantages over conventional and age-old teaching methods of routine. It is based on principles of adult learning theory, including student's motivation, encouragement to set goals, think critically about decision making in day-to-day operations. Above all these, it stimulates challenge acceptance and learning curiosity among students and creates pragmatic educational program. To measure the effectiveness of the "Problem Based Learning" as compared to conventional theory/didactic lectures based learning. The study was conducted on 72 medical students from Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana. Two modules of problem based sessions designed and delivered. Pre & Post-test score's scientific statistical analysis was done. Student feed-back received based on questionnaire in the five-point Likert scale format. Significant improvement in overall performance observed. Feedback revealed majority agreement that "Problem-based learning" helped them create interest (88.8 %), better understanding (86%) & promotes self-directed subject learning (91.6 %). Substantial improvement in the post-test scores clearly reveals acceptance of PBL over conventional learning. PBL ensures better practical learning, ability to create interest, subject understanding. It is a modern-day educational strategy, an effective tool to objectively improve the knowledge acquisition in Medical Teaching.

  16. Uncommon Sense - The Heretical Nature of Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cromer, Alan

    1995-08-01

    Most people believe that science arose as a natural end-product of our innate intelligence and curiosity, as an inevitable stage in human intellectual development. But physicist and educator Alan Cromer disputes this belief. Cromer argues that science is not the natural unfolding of human potential, but the invention of a particular culture, Greece, in a particular historical period. Indeed, far from being natural, scientific thinking goes so far against the grain of conventional human thought that if it hadn't been discovered in Greece, it might not have been discovered at all.In Uncommon Sense , Alan Cromer develops the argument that science represents a radically new and different way of thinking. Using Piaget's stages of intellectual development, he shows that conventional thinking remains mired in subjective, "egocentric" ways of looking at the world--most people even today still believe in astrology, ESP, UFOs, ghosts and other paranormal phenomena--a mode of thought that science has outgrown. He provides a fascinating explanation of why science began in Greece, contrasting the Greek practice of debate to the Judaic reliance on prophets for acquiring knowledge. Other factors, such as a maritime economy and wandering scholars (both of which prevented parochialism) and an essentially literary religion not dominated by priests, also promoted in Greece an objective, analytical way of thinking not found elsewhere in the ancient world. He examines India and China and explains why science could not develop in either country. In China, for instance, astronomy served only the state, and the private study of astronomy was forbidden. Cromer also provides a perceptive account of science in Renaissance Europe and of figures such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Along the way, Cromer touches on many intriguing topics, arguing, for instance, that much of science is essential complete; there are no new elements yet to be discovered. He debunks the vaunted SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project, which costs taxpayers millions each year, showing that physical limits--such as the melting point of metal--put an absolute limit on the speed of space travel, making trips to even the nearest star all but impossible. Finally, Cromer discusses the deplorable state of science education in America and suggests several provocative innovations to improve high school education, including a radical proposal to give all students an intensive eighth and ninth year program, eliminating the last two years of high school.Uncommon Sense is an illuminating look at science, filled with provocative observations. Whether challenging Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions, or extolling the virtues of Euclid's Elements , Alan Cromer is always insightful, outspoken, and refreshingly original.

  17. Assessment of Critical-Analytic Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Nathaniel J.; Afflerbach, Peter P.; Croninger, Robert G.

    2014-01-01

    National policy and standards documents, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress frameworks, the "Common Core State Standards" and the "Next Generation Science Standards," assert the need to assess critical-analytic thinking (CAT) across subject areas. However, assessment of CAT poses several challenges for…

  18. Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ensuring that research results are reported accurately and effectively is an eternal challenge for scientists. The book Science Writing = Thinking in Words (David Lindsay, 2011. CSIRO Publishing) is a primer for researchers who seek to improve their impact through better written (and oral) presentat...

  19. A design thinking framework for healthcare management and innovation.

    PubMed

    Roberts, Jess P; Fisher, Thomas R; Trowbridge, Matthew J; Bent, Christine

    2016-03-01

    The business community has learned the value of design thinking as a way to innovate in addressing people's needs--and health systems could benefit enormously from doing the same. This paper lays out how design thinking applies to healthcare challenges and how systems might utilize this proven and accessible problem-solving process. We show how design thinking can foster new approaches to complex and persistent healthcare problems through human-centered research, collective and diverse teamwork and rapid prototyping. We introduce the core elements of design thinking for a healthcare audience and show how it can supplement current healthcare management, innovation and practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Conducting transcultural research: critical thinking in Thailand.

    PubMed

    Jenkins, Sheryl D

    2011-01-01

    Little has been written to help researchers prepare for the unique challenges of conducting transcultural research. The purpose of this article is to discuss issues that arose during the planning and execution of a transcultural study designed to compare critical thinking in Thailand and the United States. The challenges of identifying a research site, selecting participants, incorporating Thai research into the literature review, traveling and living in a foreign culture, overcoming cultural barriers to research, and strengthening internal validity and reliability are addressed.

  1. Challenges of assessing critical thinking and clinical judgment in nurse practitioner students.

    PubMed

    Gorton, Karen L; Hayes, Janice

    2014-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between critical thinking skills and clinical judgment in nurse practitioner students. The study used a convenience, nonprobability sampling technique, engaging participants from across the United States. Correlational analysis demonstrated no statistically significant relationship between critical thinking skills and examination-style questions, critical thinking skills and scores on the evaluation and reevaluation of consequences subscale of the Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale, and critical thinking skills and the preceptor evaluation tool. The study found no statistically significant relationships between critical thinking skills and clinical judgment. Educators and practitioners could consider further research in these areas to gain insight into how critical thinking is and could be measured, to gain insight into the clinical decision making skills of nurse practitioner students, and to gain insight into the development and measurement of critical thinking skills in advanced practice educational programs. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

  2. Thinking and Believing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freie, John F.

    1987-01-01

    Critical thinking is seldom effective at encouraging students to challenge and examine preconceived positions. There is a tendency to use the rigorous questioning methods to defend preconceived positions and deflect the serious consideration of alternatives. An exercise that focused on the Cuban missile crisis is described. (MLW)

  3. Synesthesia, sensory-motor contingency, and semantic emulation: how swimming style-color synesthesia challenges the traditional view of synesthesia.

    PubMed

    Mroczko-Wąsowicz, Aleksandra; Werning, Markus

    2012-01-01

    Synesthesia is traditionally regarded as a phenomenon in which an additional non-standard phenomenal experience occurs consistently in response to ordinary stimulation applied to the same or another modality. Recent studies suggest an important role of semantic representations in the induction of synesthesia. In the present proposal we try to link the empirically grounded theory of sensory-motor contingency and mirror system based embodied simulation/emulation to newly discovered cases of swimming style-color synesthesia. In the latter color experiences are evoked only by showing the synesthetes a picture of a swimming person or asking them to think about a given swimming style. Neural mechanisms of mirror systems seem to be involved here. It has been shown that for mirror-sensory synesthesia, such as mirror-touch or mirror-pain synesthesia (when visually presented tactile or noxious stimulation of others results in the projection of the tactile or pain experience onto oneself), concurrent experiences are caused by overactivity in the mirror neuron system responding to the specific observation. The comparison of different forms of synesthesia has the potential of challenging conventional thinking on this phenomenon and providing a more general, sensory-motor account of synesthesia encompassing cases driven by semantic or emulational rather than pure sensory or motor representations. Such an interpretation could include top-down associations, questioning the explanation in terms of hard-wired structural connectivity. In the paper the hypothesis is developed that the wide-ranging phenomenon of synesthesia might result from a process of hyperbinding between "too many" semantic attribute domains. This hypothesis is supplemented by some suggestions for an underlying neural mechanism.

  4. Synesthesia, Sensory-Motor Contingency, and Semantic Emulation: How Swimming Style-Color Synesthesia Challenges the Traditional View of Synesthesia

    PubMed Central

    Mroczko-Wąsowicz, Aleksandra; Werning, Markus

    2012-01-01

    Synesthesia is traditionally regarded as a phenomenon in which an additional non-standard phenomenal experience occurs consistently in response to ordinary stimulation applied to the same or another modality. Recent studies suggest an important role of semantic representations in the induction of synesthesia. In the present proposal we try to link the empirically grounded theory of sensory-motor contingency and mirror system based embodied simulation/emulation to newly discovered cases of swimming style-color synesthesia. In the latter color experiences are evoked only by showing the synesthetes a picture of a swimming person or asking them to think about a given swimming style. Neural mechanisms of mirror systems seem to be involved here. It has been shown that for mirror-sensory synesthesia, such as mirror-touch or mirror-pain synesthesia (when visually presented tactile or noxious stimulation of others results in the projection of the tactile or pain experience onto oneself), concurrent experiences are caused by overactivity in the mirror neuron system responding to the specific observation. The comparison of different forms of synesthesia has the potential of challenging conventional thinking on this phenomenon and providing a more general, sensory-motor account of synesthesia encompassing cases driven by semantic or emulational rather than pure sensory or motor representations. Such an interpretation could include top-down associations, questioning the explanation in terms of hard-wired structural connectivity. In the paper the hypothesis is developed that the wide-ranging phenomenon of synesthesia might result from a process of hyperbinding between “too many” semantic attribute domains. This hypothesis is supplemented by some suggestions for an underlying neural mechanism. PMID:22936919

  5. Ayahuasca enhances creative divergent thinking while decreasing conventional convergent thinking.

    PubMed

    Kuypers, K P C; Riba, J; de la Fuente Revenga, M; Barker, S; Theunissen, E L; Ramaekers, J G

    2016-09-01

    Ayahuasca is a South American psychotropic plant tea traditionally used in Amazonian shamanism. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine oxidase-inhibiting properties. Increasing evidence from anecdotal reports and open-label studies indicates that ayahuasca may have therapeutic effects in treatment of substance use disorders and depression. A recent study on the psychological effects of ayahuasca found that the tea reduces judgmental processing and inner reactivity, classic goals of mindfulness psychotherapy. Another psychological facet that could potentially be targeted by ayahuasca is creative divergent thinking. This mode of thinking can enhance and strengthen psychological flexibility by allowing individuals to generate new and effective cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies. The present study aimed to assess the potential effects of ayahuasca on creative thinking. We visited two spiritual ayahuasca workshops and invited participants to conduct creativity tests before and during the acute effects of ayahuasca. In total, 26 participants consented. Creativity tests included the "pattern/line meanings test" (PLMT) and the "picture concept test" (PCT), both assessing divergent thinking and the latter also assessing convergent thinking. While no significant effects were found for the PLMT, ayahuasca intake significantly modified divergent and convergent thinking as measured by the PCT. While convergent thinking decreased after intake, divergent thinking increased. The present data indicate that ayahuasca enhances creative divergent thinking. They suggest that ayahuasca increases psychological flexibility, which may facilitate psychotherapeutic interventions and support clinical trial initiatives.

  6. A Comparison of Earth Science Science Classes Taught by Using Original Data in a Research-Approach Technique Versus Classes Taught by Conventional Approaches not Using Such Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agne, Russell M.

    1972-01-01

    Students in classes using a self-instructional unit on meteorology and climatology which provided research data from which generalizations could be drawn increased their critical thinking skills more than groups using conventional earth science texts but did not differ significantly in performance on an achievement test. (AL)

  7. Improving Middle School Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Through Reading Infusion-Loaded Discovery Learning Model in the Science Instruction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nuryakin; Riandi

    2017-02-01

    A study has been conducted to obtain a depiction of middle school students’ critical thinking skills improvement through the implementation of reading infusion-loaded discovery learning model in science instruction. A quasi-experimental study with the pretest-posttest control group design was used to engage 55 eighth-year middle school students in Tasikmalaya, which was divided into the experimental and control group respectively were 28 and 27 students. Critical thinking skills were measured using a critical thinking skills test in multiple-choice with reason format questions that administered before and after a given instruction. The test was 28 items encompassing three essential concepts, vibration, waves and auditory senses. The critical thinking skills improvement was determined by using the normalized gain score and statistically analyzed by using Mann-Whitney U test.. The findings showed that the average of students’ critical thinking skills normalized gain score of both groups were 59 and 43, respectively for experimental and control group in the medium category. There were significant differences between both group’s improvement. Thus, the implementation of reading infusion-loaded discovery learning model could further improve middle school students’ critical thinking skills than conventional learning.

  8. Cultural Myopia: A Challenge to Spanish Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cowan, Bryan J.; Perez-Dominguez, Servando

    1996-01-01

    Considers current thinking about intercultural attitudes in Spain to demonstrate reasons why the Spanish approach to interculturalism, particularly in schools, has not been at the forefront of societal, governmental, or educational thinking. Discusses the dangers of ignoring immigrants' needs and abilities within the community and the…

  9. Thinking about Educational Technology and Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spector, J. Michael

    2016-01-01

    The 2016 National Educational Technology Plan mentions fostering creativity, collaboration, leadership, and critical thinking while engaging learners in complex, real-world challenges through a project-based learning approach (see http://tech.ed.gov/netp/learn ing/). The Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21; see…

  10. Out of the box: A psychedelic model to study the creative mind.

    PubMed

    Kuypers, K P C

    2018-06-01

    Our creativity is challenged daily when facing new situations asking for novel solutions. Creativity, a multicomponent construct includes flexible divergent and rigid convergent thinking. Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin can enhance creativity and affect state of mind (mood, empathy, openness). Of note, flexible thinking is disturbed in psychopathological conditions like anxiety disorders and depression and preliminary findings have shown psychedelics to be efficacious in the treatment of those conditions. The question how psychedelics induce this state of enhanced flexible thinking remains to be answered and investigating the neurobiology underlying this phenomenon will not only help in understanding why psychedelics are of use in the therapeutic setting but also in other settings where flexible thinking is challenged. A model including neuronal networks, neurotransmitters and personal factors playing a role in this process will be proposed which can be put to the test by means of placebo-controlled pharmaco-imaging studies in healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  11. Teaching Thinking Skills in Context-Based Learning: Teachers' Challenges and Assessment Knowledge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Avargil, Shirly; Herscovitz, Orit; Dori, Yehudit Judy

    2012-04-01

    For an educational reform to succeed, teachers need to adjust their perceptions to the reform's new curricula and strategies and cope with new content, as well as new teaching and assessment strategies. Developing students' scientific literacy through context-based chemistry and higher order thinking skills was the framework for establishing a new chemistry curriculum for Israeli high school students. As part of this endeavor, we developed the Taste of Chemistry module, which focuses on context-based chemistry, chemical understanding, and higher order thinking skills. Our research objectives were (a) to identify the challenges and difficulties chemistry teachers faced, as well as the advantages they found, while teaching and assessing the Taste of Chemistry module; and (b) to investigate how they coped with teaching and assessing thinking skills that include analyzing data from graphs and tables, transferring between multiple representations and, transferring between chemistry understanding levels. Research participants included eight teachers who taught the module. Research tools included interviews, classroom observations, teachers-designed students' assignments, and developers-designed students' assignments. We documented different challenges teachers had faced while teaching the module and found that the teachers developed different ways of coping with these challenges. Developing teachers' assessment knowledge (AK) was found to be the highest stage in teachers' professional growth, building on teachers' content knowledge (CK), pedagogy knowledge (PK), and pedagogical-content knowledge (PCK). We propose the use of assignments designed by teachers as an instrument for determining their professional growth.

  12. Development of Platinum(iv) Complexes as Anticancer Prodrugs: the Story so Far

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wong, Daniel Yuan Qiang; Ang, Wee Han

    2012-06-01

    The serendipitous discovery of the antitumor properties of cisplatin by Barnett Rosenberg some forty years ago brought about a paradigm shift in the field of medicinal chemistry and challenged conventional thinking regarding the role of potentially toxic heavy metals in drugs. Platinum(II)-based anticancer drugs have since become some of the most effective and widely-used drugs in a clinician's arsenal and have saved countless lives. However, they are limited by high toxicity, severe side-effects and the incidence of drug resistance. In recent years, attention has shifted to stable platinum(IV) complexes as anticancer prodrugs. By exploiting the unique chemical and structural attributes of their scaffolds, these platinum(IV) prodrugs offer new strategies of targeting and killing cancer cells. This review summarizes the development of anticancer platinum(IV) prodrugs to date and some of the exciting strategies that utilise the platinum(IV) construct as targeted chemotherapeutic agents against cancer.

  13. Applying Structural Systems Thinking to Frame Perspectives on Social Work Innovation.

    PubMed

    Stringfellow, Erin J

    2017-03-01

    Innovation will be key to the success of the Grand Challenges Initiative in social work. A structural systems framework based in system dynamics could be useful for considering how to advance innovation. Diagrams using system dynamics conventions were developed to link common themes across concept papers written by social work faculty members and graduate students ( N = 19). Transdisciplinary teams and ethical partnerships with communities and practitioners will be needed to responsibly develop high-quality innovative solutions. A useful next step would be to clarify to what extent factors that could "make or break" these partnerships arise from within versus outside of the field of social work and how this has changed over time. Advancing innovation in social work will mean making decisions in a complex, ever-changing system. Principles and tools from methods that account for complexity, such as system dynamics, can help improve this decision-making process.

  14. Applying Structural Systems Thinking to Frame Perspectives on Social Work Innovation

    PubMed Central

    Stringfellow, Erin J.

    2017-01-01

    Objective Innovation will be key to the success of the Grand Challenges Initiative in social work. A structural systems framework based in system dynamics could be useful for considering how to advance innovation. Method Diagrams using system dynamics conventions were developed to link common themes across concept papers written by social work faculty members and graduate students (N = 19). Results Transdisciplinary teams and ethical partnerships with communities and practitioners will be needed to responsibly develop high-quality innovative solutions. A useful next step would be to clarify to what extent factors that could “make or break” these partnerships arise from within versus outside of the field of social work and how this has changed over time. Conclusions Advancing innovation in social work will mean making decisions in a complex, ever-changing system. Principles and tools from methods that account for complexity, such as system dynamics, can help improve this decision-making process. PMID:28298877

  15. Who Do We Think We Are? Disrupting Notions of Quality in Qualitative Research.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Jennifer; Boettcher-Sheard, Nicholas; Duque, Camille; Lashewicz, Bonnie

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this article is to illuminate our troubles with, and troubling of, the trustworthiness dimension of balancing subjectivity and reflexivity, in qualitative research. This article evolved from debriefing sessions between three novice researchers working on a qualitative research study aimed at building understandings of the relational dynamics between adults with developmental disability diagnoses (ADevD) and their caregiving families. Following data collection, coauthors discussed interview experiences they had personally found challenging. These experiences constitute a point of departure for our examination of our researcher positions. We present a delineation of three research tensions, in the form of short "reflexive vignettes," each rooted in concern with possibly contradicting our goals of facilitating and expanding participant autonomy. We follow with recommendations about how, as researchers, our endeavor to understand participants with less conventional communication can be used to reflect and inform navigating difficulties universal to qualitative research.

  16. Use of a design challenge to develop postural support devices for intermediate wheelchair users

    PubMed Central

    Tanuku, Deepti; Moller, Nathaniel C.

    2017-01-01

    The provision of an appropriate wheelchair, one that provides proper fit and postural support, promotes wheelchair users’ physical health and quality of life. Many wheelchair users have postural difficulties, requiring supplemental postural support devices for added trunk support. However, in many low- and middle-income settings, postural support devices are inaccessible, inappropriate or unaffordable. This article describes the use of the design challenge model, informed by a design thinking approach, to catalyse the development of an affordable, simple and robust postural support device for low- and middle-income countries. The article also illustrates how not-for-profit organisations can utilise design thinking and, in particular, the design challenge model to successfully support the development of innovative solutions to product or process challenges. PMID:28936418

  17. Improving flexible thinking in deaf and hard of hearing children with virtual reality technology.

    PubMed

    Passig, D; Eden, S

    2000-07-01

    The study investigated whether rotating three-dimensional (3-D) objects using virtual reality (VR) will affect flexible thinking in deaf and hard of hearing children. Deaf and hard of hearing subjects were distributed into experimental and control groups. The experimental group played virtual 3-D Tetris (a game using VR technology) individually, 15 minutes once weekly over 3 months. The control group played conventional two-dimensional (2-D) Tetris over the same period. Children with normal hearing participated as a second control group in order to establish whether deaf and hard of hearing children really are disadvantaged in flexible thinking. Before-and-after testing showed significantly improved flexible thinking in the experimental group; the deaf and hard of hearing control group showed no significant improvement. Also, before the experiment, the deaf and hard of hearing children scored lower in flexible thinking than the children with normal hearing. After the experiment, the difference between the experimental group and the control group of children with normal hearing was smaller.

  18. Teaching Tree-Thinking to Undergraduate Biology Students

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Evolution is the unifying principle of all biology, and understanding how evolutionary relationships are represented is critical for a complete understanding of evolution. Phylogenetic trees are the most conventional tool for displaying evolutionary relationships, and “tree-thinking” has been coined as a term to describe the ability to conceptualize evolutionary relationships. Students often lack tree-thinking skills, and developing those skills should be a priority of biology curricula. Many common student misconceptions have been described, and a successful instructor needs a suite of tools for correcting those misconceptions. I review the literature on teaching tree-thinking to undergraduate students and suggest how this material can be presented within an inquiry-based framework. PMID:21572571

  19. Using Technology to Support Teachers' Lesson Modifications during Lesson Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Skultety, Lisa; Gonzalez, Gloriana; Vargas, Gabriela

    2017-01-01

    Lesson study is a professional development activity that increases teachers' attention to student thinking. However, coordinating teachers' live observations of a lesson can be challenging. Using the framework of "distributed cognition," we investigate whether technology supports teachers' examination of student thinking and aids the…

  20. Improving Students' Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Communication Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geissler, Gary L.; Edison, Steve W.; Wayland, Jane P.

    2012-01-01

    Business professors continue to face the challenge of truly preparing their students for the workplace. College students often lack skills that are valued by employers, such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork skills. Traditional classroom methods, such as lectures, may fail to produce adequate…

  1. After the Genome IV: Envisioning Biology in the Year 2010

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brent, Roger

    1999-01-01

    The After the Genome meetings were started in 1995 to help the biological community think about and prepare for the changes in biological research in the face of genomic information. This workshop brings together intellectuals from subject fields far outside of conventional biology with the expectation that this will help focus thinking beyond the immediate future. Hence the subtitle for this year's meeting: "Envisioning Biology in the Year 2010". Accordingly, the organizers brought together a broadly multi-disciplinary group of thinkers and working scientists.

  2. Dewey and Schon: An Analysis of Reflective Thinking.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bauer, Norman J.

    The challenge to the dominance of rationality in educational philosophy presented by John Dewey and Donald Schon is examined in this paper. The paper identifies basic assumptions of their perspective and explains concepts of reflective thinking, which include biography, context of uncertainty, and "not-yet." A model of reflective thought…

  3. High Thinking Processes (HTP): Elements of Curricula and Teaching Able-Learners.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaniel, Shlomo

    2002-01-01

    This article discusses preparing able learners for the technologically dynamic future by teaching High Thinking Processes (HTP). It describes components of HTP and four main elements for developing HTP: well organized and justified curricula with appropriate tasks; metacognitive teaching; learning communities and challenging environments; and…

  4. "Does Your Dog Bite?": Creating Good Questions for Online Discussions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Toledo, Cheri A.

    2006-01-01

    One of the challenges of asynchronous online discussions is soliciting student responses that involve critical thinking. Too often students answer one another with "I agree" or "That's what I think" and the discussion dead ends. By providing students with models of good questioning techniques instructors will see the class…

  5. A Brief Social Skills Intervention to Reduce Challenging Classroom Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDaniel, Sara C.; Bruhn, Allison L.; Troughton, Leonard

    2017-01-01

    Social skills instruction has been recommended as a way of improving behavioral and social outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A brief social skills intervention ("Stop and Think" (Knoff in "The stop & think social skills program," Sopris West, Longmont, CO, 2001) was used to extend the…

  6. Hoop Hoop Hooray!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tomsett, Ruth

    2008-01-01

    The author believes that Venn diagrams are a useful, yet hugely underused resource, to encourage purposeful talk, reasoning and logical thinking both within mathematics and across the curriculum. Here, she describes ways in which Venn diagrams can be used to add challenge and develop reasoning, discussion and mathematical thinking at Key Stage 2.…

  7. Take a Whole New Look at How to Use Resources

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miles, Karen Hawley; Sommers, Anna

    2016-01-01

    In their full essay for "Reach the Highest Standard in Professional Learning: Resources," the authors note that more rigorous instructional requirements combined with tighter budgets challenge school systems to think more deliberately about where and how they invest in teaching effectiveness. They write that forward-thinking school…

  8. Development of a Thinking Programme for Engineering Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tan, Oon-Seng

    2006-01-01

    The challenge of preparing engineering graduates for a fast-changing work environment calls for the development of thinking programmes. A psychological basis was used to develop the tenets of the approach. The Cognitive Modifiability Intervention (CMI) was rationalized and conceived as a corollary of observations of learning scenarios and an…

  9. Geometry Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Robinson, James

    2012-01-01

    What is it that makes learners "think"? What geometrical problem, simply posed, can switch on the thinking processes of students? The author describes one such starting point that worked in a real classroom with Year 9 students. A group of learners for whom "mathematics comes easy" experience being stuck, they learn to handle this unfamiliar…

  10. Inhibiting Intuitive Thinking in Mathematics Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, Michael O. J.

    2015-01-01

    The papers in this issue describe recent collaborative research into the role of inhibition of intuitive thinking in mathematics education. This commentary reflects on this research from a mathematics education perspective and draws attention to some of the challenges that arise in collaboration between research fields with different cultures,…

  11. Critical Thinking for Natural Resource, Agricultural, and Environmental Ethics Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Quinn, Courtney; Burbach, Mark E.; Matkin, Gina S.; Flores, Kevin

    2009-01-01

    Future decision makers in natural resource fields will be required to make judgments on issues that lack clear solutions and with information complicated by ethical challenges. Therefore, natural resource, environmental, and agricultural professionals must possess the ability to think critically about the consequences of policy, economic systems,…

  12. Teachers' Perceptions of Examining Students' Thinking: Changing Mathematics Instructional Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson-Pence, Katie L.

    2015-01-01

    This paper seeks to illuminate teachers' perceptions of the challenges and benefits of systematically examining students' thinking as part of a professional development program in elementary mathematics education. Using a framework of models of conceptual change and principles of discomfort, three elementary teachers' perceptions of their…

  13. Reading the News: The Statistical Preparation of Pre-Service Secondary Mathematics Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chesler, Joshua

    2015-01-01

    Undergraduate mathematics programs must prepare teachers for the challenges of teaching statistical thinking as advocated in standards documents and statistics education literature. This study investigates the statistical thinking of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers at the end of their undergraduate educations. Although all had completed…

  14. What They Learned: Using Multimedia to Engage Undergraduates in Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Artello, Kristine

    2014-01-01

    Today's employers seek high levels of creativity, communication, and critical thinking, which are considered essential skills in the workplace. Engaging undergraduate students in critical thinking is especially challenging in introductory courses. The advent of YouTube, inexpensive video cameras, and easy-to-use video editors provides…

  15. Hopeful Thinking: Conceptualizing a Future beyond Domestic Abuse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zombil, Henri

    2017-01-01

    Domestic violence is a continuing public health problem. Immigrant women facing domestic violence have additional challenges in dealing with domestic violence and accessing services. Hopeful thinking has been identified as a strategy for intervening and surviving beyond domestic violence. The purpose of this multiple descriptive case study was to…

  16. Inductive & Deductive Science Thinking: A Model for Lesson Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bilica, Kim; Flores, Margaret

    2009-01-01

    Middle school students make great learning gains when they participate in lessons that invite them to practice their developing scientific reasoning skills; however, designing developmentally appropriate, clear, and structured lessons about scientific thinking and reasoning can be difficult. This challenge can be met through lessons that teach…

  17. Gaia: "Thinking Like a Planet" as Transformative Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haigh, Martin

    2014-01-01

    Transformative learning may involve gentle perspective widening or something more traumatic. This paper explores the impact of a transformative pedagogy in a course that challenges learners to "think like a planet". Among six sources of intellectual anxiety, learners worry about: why Gaia Theory is neglected by their other courses; the…

  18. Investigation of negative moment reinforcing in bridge decks.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-09-01

    Multi-span pre-tensioned pre-stressed concrete beam (PPCB) bridges made continuous usually experience a negative live load : moment region over the intermediate supports. Conventional thinking dictates that sufficient reinforcement must be provided i...

  19. Let Us Look Again at Development, Education and Women.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bhasin, Kamla

    1994-01-01

    Argues that adult educators should promote "feminine" values and devalue power, domination, consumerism, aggression, and violence. Suggests that conventional ways of thinking about development and literacy education perpetuate an unjust status quo. (SK)

  20. Critical thinking skills profile of senior high school students in Biology learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saputri, A. C.; Sajidan; Rinanto, Y.

    2018-04-01

    Critical thinking is an important and necessary skill to confront the challenges of the 21st century. Critical thinking skills accommodate activities that can improve high-order thinking skills. This study aims to determine senior high school students' critical thinking skills in Biology learning. This research is descriptive research using instruments developed based on the core aspects of critical thinking skills according to Facione which include interpretation, analysis, evaluation, explanation, conclusion, and self-regulation. The subjects in this study were 297 students in grade 12 of a senior high school in Surakarta selected through purposive sampling technique. The results of this study showed that the students' critical thinking skills on evaluation and self-regulation are in good criterion with 78% and 66% acquisition while 52% interpretation, 56% analysis, 52% conclusion and 42% explanation indicate sufficient criteria. The conclusion from this research is that critical thinking skill of the students still was in enough category, so that needed a way to enhance it on some indicators.

  1. Promoting middle school students’ abstract-thinking ability through cognitive apprenticeship instruction in mathematics learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yusepa, B. G. P.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Kartasasmita, B. G.

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study is to get an in-depth understanding of students’ abstract-thinking ability in mathematics learning. This study was an experimental research with pre-test and post-test control group design. The subject of this study was eighth-grade students from two junior high schools in Bandung. In each schools, two parallel groups were selected and assigned into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was exposed to Cognitive Apprenticeship Instruction (CAI) treatment, whereas the control group was exposed to conventional learning. The results showed that abstract-thinking ability of students in experimental group was better than that of those in control group in which it could be observed from the overall and school level. It could be concluded that CAI could be a good alternative learning model to enhance students’ abstract-thinking ability.

  2. Understanding Autism: Working with the Challenges Autism Brings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenspan, Stanley I.

    2006-01-01

    Autism is a developmental disorder that involves many challenges. Autistic children have trouble forming relationships. They also have difficulty understanding and responding to emotional signals from others. Other challenges include using language, using words creatively, using imagination, and, later, thinking abstractly. These are the core…

  3. Value innovation: the strategic logic of high growth.

    PubMed

    Kim, W C; Mauborgne, R

    1997-01-01

    Why are some companies able to sustain high growth in revenues and profits--and others are not? To answer that question, the authors, both of INSEAD, spent five years studying more than 30 companies around the world. They found that the difference between the high-growth companies and their less successful competitors was in each group's assumptions about strategy. Managers of the less successful companies followed conventional strategic logic. Managers of the high-growth companies followed what the authors call the logic of value innovation. Conventional strategic logic and value innovation differ along the basic dimensions of strategy. Many companies take their industry's conditions as given; value innovators don't. Many companies let competitors set the parameters of their strategic thinking; value innovators do not use rivals as benchmarks. Rather than focus on the differences among customers, value innovators look for what customers value in common. Rather than view opportunities through the lens of existing assets and capabilities, value innovators ask, What if we start anew? The authors tell the story of the French hotelier Accor, which discarded the notion of what a hotel is supposed to look like in order to offer what most customers want: a good night's sleep at a low price. And Virgin Atlantic challenged industry conventions by eliminating first-class service and channeling savings into innovations for business-class passengers. Those companies didn't set out to build advantages over the competition, but they ended up achieving the greatest competitive advantages.

  4. Collaborative Systems Thinking: A Response to the Problems Faced by Systems Engineering's 'Middle Tier'

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Phfarr, Barbara B.; So, Maria M.; Lamb, Caroline Twomey; Rhodes, Donna H.

    2009-01-01

    Experienced systems engineers are adept at more than implementing systems engineering processes: they utilize systems thinking to solve complex engineering problems. Within the space industry demographics and economic pressures are reducing the number of experienced systems engineers that will be available in the future. Collaborative systems thinking within systems engineering teams is proposed as a way to integrate systems engineers of various experience levels to handle complex systems engineering challenges. This paper uses the GOES-R Program Systems Engineering team to illustrate the enablers and barriers to team level systems thinking and to identify ways in which performance could be improved. Ways NASA could expand its engineering training to promote team-level systems thinking are proposed.

  5. Teaching complex trauma care in a curriculum challenges critical thinking and clinical judgment--how nurses can help.

    PubMed

    West, Margaret Mary; Bross, Gina; Snyder, Melissa

    2007-01-01

    Incorporating complex content into a nursing curriculum presents students with the knowledge and thinking skills necessary to enter a career in nursing. A level 1 trauma center is a prefect environment to advance these thinking skills. Nurses act as professional role models and teachers as they clarify and explain their thinking to a student. When experienced nurses show invitational behaviors to students and share their knowledge with them, they ignite a strong desire within the student to progress. Caring, communication, and inclusion are key components that synergize the teaching/learning experience. The development of critical thinking is a continuous process that is best achieved through collaboration between the student, faculty, and professional, experienced nurses.

  6. Bio-geomorphology and resilience thinking: Common ground and challenges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thoms, Martin C.; Meitzen, Kimberly M.; Julian, Jason P.; Butler, David R.

    2018-03-01

    Geomorphology plays a fundamental role in shaping and maintaining landscapes, as well as influencing the social and ecological systems that occupy and utilize these landscapes. In turn, social-ecological systems can have a profound influence on geomorphic forms and processes. These interactions highlight the tightly coupled nature of geomorphic systems. Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of research at the interface of geomorphology and resilience thinking, and the 2017 Binghamton Symposium brought together leading researchers from both communities to address mutual concerns and challenges of these two disciplines. This paper reviews some of the key intersections between the disciplines of bio-geomorphology and resilience thinking, and the papers presented at the symposium. The papers in this volume illustrate the current status of the disciplines, the difficulties in bridging the disciplines, and the issues that are emerging as research priorities.

  7. Engaging adolescents with LD in higher order thinking about history concepts using integrated content enhancement routines.

    PubMed

    Bulgren, Janis; Deshler, Donald D; Lenz, B Keith

    2007-01-01

    The understanding and use of historical concepts specified in national history standards pose many challenges to students. These challenges include both the acquisition of content knowledge and the use of that knowledge in ways that require higher order thinking. All students, including adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), are expected to understand and use concepts of history to pass high-stakes assessments and to participate meaningfully in a democratic society. This article describes Content Enhancement Routines (CERs) to illustrate instructional planning, teaching, and assessing for higher order thinking with examples from an American history unit. Research on the individual components of Content Enhancement Routines will be illustrated with data from 1 of the routines. The potential use of integrated sets of materials and procedures across grade levels and content areas will be discussed.

  8. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Rangaraj, D; Chan, K; Boddu, S

    Lean thinking has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. Toyota has pioneered and leveraged this aspect of Lean thinking. Application of Lean thinking and Lean Six Sigma techniques into Healthcare and in particular in Radiation Oncology has its merits and challenges. To improve quality, safety and patient satisfaction with available resources or reducing cost in terms of time, staff and resources is demands of today's healthcare. Radiation oncology treatment involves many processes and steps, identifying and removing the non-value added steps in a process can significantly improve the efficiency. Real projects undertaken in radiation oncology department in cutting down the procedure timemore » for MRI guided brachytherapy to 40% less using lean thinking will be narrated. Simple Lean tools and techniques such as Gemba walk, visual control, daily huddles, standard work, value stream mapping, error-proofing, etc. can be applied with existing resources and how that improved the operation in a Radiation Oncology department's two year experience will be discussed. Lean thinking focuses on identifying and solving the root-cause of a problem by asking “Why” and not “Who” and this requires a culture change of no blame. Role of leadership in building lean culture, employee empowerment and trains and develops lean thinkers will be presented. Why Lean initiatives fail and how to implement lean successfully in your clinic will be discussed. Learning Objectives: Concepts of lean management or lean thinking. Lean tools and techniques applied in Radiation Oncology. Implement no blame culture and focus on system and processes. Leadership role in implementing lean culture. Challenges for Lean thinking in healthcare.« less

  9. The Challenges Our Contemporary World Presents to Christian Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schuttloffel, Merylann J.

    2005-01-01

    This article explores Jacques Ellul's challenges to Christian educators in a society permeated with technique or technological thinking. Responses to the three challenges Ellul puts forth to believing Christians, and, specifically, to Catholic Christian school educators, integrate a process of contemplative practice. This process integrates…

  10. How the Project Approach Challenges Young Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burns, Marcia V.; Lewis, Alisha L.

    2016-01-01

    In this article, educators at University Primary School in Champaign, Illinois, share examples and understandings of the ways The Project Approach challenges young children to think critically about topics of importance in their world. Project investigations that provoke academic and social challenges for individuals and classroom communities of…

  11. Assessing Academic Challenges for Their Contribution to Cognitive Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCormick, David F.; Whittington, M. Susie

    2000-01-01

    Challenges (assignments, activities, tests) incorporated into agriculture classes were evaluated using Bloom's Taxonomy. The cognitive level varied by course and type of activity. Effectiveness depended on selecting challenges appropriate for the material, requiring higher-order thinking, and rewarding students for work at higher cognitive levels.…

  12. Spatial language facilitates spatial cognition: Evidence from children who lack language input

    PubMed Central

    Gentner, Dedre; Özyürek, Asli; Gürcanli, Özge; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2013-01-01

    Does spatial language influence how people think about space? To address this question, we observed children who did not know a conventional language, and tested their performance on nonlinguistic spatial tasks. We studied deaf children living in Istanbul whose hearing losses prevented them from acquiring speech and whose hearing parents had not exposed them to sign. Lacking a conventional language, the children used gestures, called homesigns, to communicate. In Study 1, we asked whether homesigners used gesture to convey spatial relations, and found that they did not. In Study 2, we tested a new group of homesigners on a spatial mapping task, and found that they performed significantly worse than hearing Turkish children who were matched to the deaf children on another cognitive task. The absence of spatial language thus went hand-in-hand with poor performance on the nonlinguistic spatial task, pointing to the importance of spatial language in thinking about space. PMID:23542409

  13. The Use of Interrupted Case Studies to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills in Biology

    PubMed Central

    White, Tracy K.; Whitaker, Paul; Gonya, Terri; Hein, Richard; Kroening, Dubear; Lee, Kevin; Lee, Laura; Lukowiak, Andrea; Hayes, Elizabeth

    2009-01-01

    There has been a dramatic increase in the availability of case studies for use in the biology classroom, and perceptions of the effectiveness of case-study-based learning are overwhelmingly positive. Here we report the results of a study in which we evaluated the ability of interrupted case studies to improve critical thinking in the context of experimental design and the conventions of data interpretation. Students were assessed using further case studies designed to evaluate their ability to recognize and articulate problematic approaches to these elements of experimentation. Our work reveals that case studies have broad utility in the classroom. In addition to demonstrating a small but statistically significant increase in the number of students capable of critically evaluating selected aspects of experimental design, we also observed increased student engagement and documented widespread misconceptions regarding the conventions of data acquisition and analysis. PMID:23653687

  14. A diabetes dashboard and physician efficiency and accuracy in accessing data needed for high-quality diabetes care.

    PubMed

    Koopman, Richelle J; Kochendorfer, Karl M; Moore, Joi L; Mehr, David R; Wakefield, Douglas S; Yadamsuren, Borchuluun; Coberly, Jared S; Kruse, Robin L; Wakefield, Bonnie J; Belden, Jeffery L

    2011-01-01

    We compared use of a new diabetes dashboard screen with use of a conventional approach of viewing multiple electronic health record (EHR) screens to find data needed for ambulatory diabetes care. We performed a usability study, including a quantitative time study and qualitative analysis of information-seeking behaviors. While being recorded with Morae Recorder software and "think-aloud" interview methods, 10 primary care physicians first searched their EHR for 10 diabetes data elements using a conventional approach for a simulated patient, and then using a new diabetes dashboard for another. We measured time, number of mouse clicks, and accuracy. Two coders analyzed think-aloud and interview data using grounded theory methodology. The mean time needed to find all data elements was 5.5 minutes using the conventional approach vs 1.3 minutes using the diabetes dashboard (P <.001). Physicians correctly identified 94% of the data requested using the conventional method, vs 100% with the dashboard (P <.01). The mean number of mouse clicks was 60 for conventional searching vs 3 clicks with the diabetes dashboard (P <.001). A common theme was that in everyday practice, if physicians had to spend too much time searching for data, they would either continue without it or order a test again. Using a patient-specific diabetes dashboard improves both the efficiency and accuracy of acquiring data needed for high-quality diabetes care. Usability analysis tools can provide important insights into the value of optimizing physician use of health information technologies.

  15. Decisions You Can Live with

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glanz, Jeffrey

    2009-01-01

    Resolving ethical dilemmas is no easy task, and there are no ready-made recipes or guidelines to follow. A principal, as a critically thinking individual with a well-thought-out belief system, will be challenged to think on his or her feet when confronting situations that require ethical decision making. This article presents three ethical…

  16. Fostering Critical Thinking and Reflection through Blog-Mediated Peer Feedback

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Novakovich, J.

    2016-01-01

    The introduction of digital literacy practices has created a tension in academia, with many academics challenging the view that critical thinking can be fostered on social networks. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on two sections of university-level writing classrooms to determine if there were meaningful differences in the quality of…

  17. A Blended Learning Environment for Individualized English Listening and Speaking Integrating Critical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Ya-Ting Carolyn; Chuang, Ya-Chin; Li, Lung-Yu; Tseng, Shin-Shang

    2013-01-01

    Critical thinking (CT) and English communication are recognized as two essential 21st century competencies. To equip students with these competencies and respond to the challenges of global competition, educational technology is being developed to enhance teaching and learning. This study examined the effectiveness of integrating CT into…

  18. Thinking Beyond Numbers: Learning Numeracy for the Future Workplace. Support Document

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marr, Beth; Hagston, Jan

    2007-01-01

    The use, learning and transfer of workplace numeracy skills, as well as current understandings of the term numeracy, are examined in this study. It also highlights the importance of numeracy as an essential workplace skill. "Thinking Beyond Numbers: Learning Numeracy for the Future Workplace" challenges the training system and training…

  19. Novice Teachers' Attention to Student Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levin, Daniel M.; Hammer, David; Coffey, Janet E.

    2009-01-01

    Stage-based views of teacher development hold that novice teachers are unable to attend to students' thinking until they have begun to identify themselves as teachers and mastered classroom routines, and so the first emphases in learning to teach should be on forming routines and identity. The authors challenge those views, as others have done,…

  20. Through the Skylight with Foreign Languages: Providing All Students with Challenging Elementary School Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caccavale, Therese Sullivan

    2003-01-01

    Foreign language instruction is known to develop better critical thinking skills in children. Therefore, the teaching of foreign languages should be promoted so that "all" students may attain better creative, divergent, critical, and analytical thinking skills. Research done in past years on cooperative learning models has consistently shown that…

  1. From Hamburg to Belem: The Limits of Technocratic Thinking in Adult Learning Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Torres, Carlos Alberto

    2015-01-01

    This article discusses some of the generalized analyses of adult learning education, mostly informed by technocratic thinking, highlighting perceived trends in adult learning education between CONFINTEA V and CONFITEA VI. Those trends could be understood as challenges. Employing a political sociology of adult learning education as a critique of…

  2. How to Survive the Politics of School Administration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Searby, Linda; Williams, Connie

    2007-01-01

    School superintendents meet situations that range from those that require quick thinking to those that need thoughtful reflection and long-range planning. But almost every challenge requires some degree of political thinking and behavior. The authors have witnessed many school leaders get into sticky predicaments as a result of trying to maneuver…

  3. Critical Thinking in Physical Geography: Linking Concepts of Content and Applicability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolf, Joy; Stanton, Michael; Gellott, Laura

    2010-01-01

    This study investigates critical thinking in a Physical Geography course and illustrates how students can understand physical geography in the context of their world. As a general education science course, most students are in non-science disciplines and feel disconnected from the material. By using exercises that challenge learning and concept…

  4. Vocabulary Learning on the Internet: Using a Structured Think-Aloud Procedure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ebner, Rachel J.; Ehri, Linnea C.

    2013-01-01

    Using the Internet as a learning tool has great promise, but also poses significant challenges. Theories and research confirm the importance of students' engagement in self-regulated learning processes for effective Internet learning. In this article the Authors describe a structured think-aloud procedure intended to support students'…

  5. Engaging Families in the Galleries Using Design Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larson, Lucy

    2017-01-01

    The Palo Alto Art Center sought a solution to the challenge that loyal family audiences, visiting weekly for art studio classes, rarely visit the contemporary art exhibition galleries. This article relates the experience of using the human-centered design process, often called Design Thinking, as the methodology to create a solution for family…

  6. Bump up the Energy: Engaging Students in Online Forums

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cunnin, Betty; Macpherson, Alice; Matteoni, James Alan

    2011-01-01

    Educators know that to engage learners in the enterprise of critical thinking, learner's need to care enough to pay attention, and feel safe enough to take intellectual risks. When interacting asynchronously in online forums, it can become even more challenging to create a space that encourages reflective, integrative, and higher order thinking.…

  7. An Analysis of Reflective Thinking in Teacher Candidates' ePortfolios

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salinas Grandy, Cristina

    2016-01-01

    Preparing the next generation of teachers to prepare students for the 21st Century is a challenging endeavor. Teacher candidates need to possess critical thinking and evidence-based pedagogical skills. It is believed that teacher reflection is the cornerstone to making informed decisions and timely modifications to daily instruction…

  8. Chasing Innovation: A Pilot Case Study of a Rhizomatic Design Thinking Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biffi, Alfredo; Bissola, Rita; Imperatori, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and discuss the main features and key challenges of an original post-graduate education program designed according to an innovative theoretical framework promoting design thinking in a rhizomatic approach. By involving different stakeholders, the aim of this entrepreneurship education program is…

  9. Early Childhood Creativity: Challenging Educators in Their Role to Intentionally Develop Creative Thinking in Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leggett, Nicole

    2017-01-01

    Creativity is a topic of wide global interest, often discussed in fields such as education, psychology and business (Runco, "Divergent thinking and creative potential," Hampton Press, New York, 2013; Yoruk and Runco, "Journal for Neurocognitive Research" 56:1-16, 2014). However, the relationship of pedagogical practices in…

  10. Designing an EFL Reading Program to Promote Literacy Skills, Critical Thinking, and Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferrer, Erica; Staley, Kendra

    2016-01-01

    This article details the design and implementation of a reading program in a university EFL setting as a strategy to encourage creativity, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and reading for enjoyment (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Richards & Renandya, 2002). This student-centered project challenged ELLs to address issues such as…

  11. The CLIA-Model: A Framework for Designing Powerful Learning Environments for Thinking and Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Corte, Erik; Verschaffel, Lieven; Masui, Chris

    2004-01-01

    A major challenge for education and educational research is to build on our present understanding of learning for designing environments for education that are conducive to fostering in students self-regulatory and cooperative learning skills, transferable knowledge, and a disposition toward competent thinking and problem solving. Taking into…

  12. Example of a Participant Agreement for the Food Recovery Challenge

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    This page contains an example of the participant agreement from the Sustainable Materials Management database system for anyone thinking about joining the Food Recovery Challenge can view to learn about what it entails.

  13. The Humpty-Dumpty Challenge.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chock, Jan S.

    1995-01-01

    Describes a twist on the egg-drop challenge activity for an 8th grade physical science unit. Students engage in active inquiry and explore the laws of physics, develop critical thinking skills, and practice problem-solving tasks. (NB)

  14. Ocular drug delivery systems: An overview

    PubMed Central

    Patel, Ashaben; Cholkar, Kishore; Agrahari, Vibhuti; Mitra, Ashim K

    2014-01-01

    The major challenge faced by today’s pharmacologist and formulation scientist is ocular drug delivery. Topical eye drop is the most convenient and patient compliant route of drug administration, especially for the treatment of anterior segment diseases. Delivery of drugs to the targeted ocular tissues is restricted by various precorneal, dynamic and static ocular barriers. Also, therapeutic drug levels are not maintained for longer duration in target tissues. In the past two decades, ocular drug delivery research acceleratedly advanced towards developing a novel, safe and patient compliant formulation and drug delivery devices/techniques, which may surpass these barriers and maintain drug levels in tissues. Anterior segment drug delivery advances are witnessed by modulation of conventional topical solutions with permeation and viscosity enhancers. Also, it includes development of conventional topical formulations such as suspensions, emulsions and ointments. Various nanoformulations have also been introduced for anterior segment ocular drug delivery. On the other hand, for posterior ocular delivery, research has been immensely focused towards development of drug releasing devices and nanoformulations for treating chronic vitreoretinal diseases. These novel devices and/or formulations may help to surpass ocular barriers and associated side effects with conventional topical drops. Also, these novel devices and/or formulations are easy to formulate, no/negligibly irritating, possess high precorneal residence time, sustain the drug release, and enhance ocular bioavailability of therapeutics. An update of current research advancement in ocular drug delivery necessitates and helps drug delivery scientists to modulate their think process and develop novel and safe drug delivery strategies. Current review intends to summarize the existing conventional formulations for ocular delivery and their advancements followed by current nanotechnology based formulation developments. Also, recent developments with other ocular drug delivery strategies employing in situ gels, implants, contact lens and microneedles have been discussed. PMID:25590022

  15. Ocular drug delivery systems: An overview.

    PubMed

    Patel, Ashaben; Cholkar, Kishore; Agrahari, Vibhuti; Mitra, Ashim K

    The major challenge faced by today's pharmacologist and formulation scientist is ocular drug delivery. Topical eye drop is the most convenient and patient compliant route of drug administration, especially for the treatment of anterior segment diseases. Delivery of drugs to the targeted ocular tissues is restricted by various precorneal, dynamic and static ocular barriers. Also, therapeutic drug levels are not maintained for longer duration in target tissues. In the past two decades, ocular drug delivery research acceleratedly advanced towards developing a novel, safe and patient compliant formulation and drug delivery devices/techniques, which may surpass these barriers and maintain drug levels in tissues. Anterior segment drug delivery advances are witnessed by modulation of conventional topical solutions with permeation and viscosity enhancers. Also, it includes development of conventional topical formulations such as suspensions, emulsions and ointments. Various nanoformulations have also been introduced for anterior segment ocular drug delivery. On the other hand, for posterior ocular delivery, research has been immensely focused towards development of drug releasing devices and nanoformulations for treating chronic vitreoretinal diseases. These novel devices and/or formulations may help to surpass ocular barriers and associated side effects with conventional topical drops. Also, these novel devices and/or formulations are easy to formulate, no/negligibly irritating, possess high precorneal residence time, sustain the drug release, and enhance ocular bioavailability of therapeutics. An update of current research advancement in ocular drug delivery necessitates and helps drug delivery scientists to modulate their think process and develop novel and safe drug delivery strategies. Current review intends to summarize the existing conventional formulations for ocular delivery and their advancements followed by current nanotechnology based formulation developments. Also, recent developments with other ocular drug delivery strategies employing in situ gels, implants, contact lens and microneedles have been discussed.

  16. How Effective Leaders Harness the Future.

    PubMed

    Souba, Wiley; Souba, Matthew

    2018-02-01

    Human beings are fundamentally future oriented. Most of our decisions and undertakings are for the sake of a future to which we are committed or obligated. This future orientation is essential to effective leadership in health care, especially during this time of significant reform, when people are at risk of becoming cynical and disengaged. Conventional thinking holds that our effectiveness as leaders is primarily a function of what we have learned in the past-our knowledge, expertise, and experience. In contrast, the emerging model contends that our effectiveness is also a function of how the future (outcome) of our leadership challenges "shows up" for us. If, despite daunting circumstances, we can "see" an aspired future ahead, we are more likely to commit and engage. Our story of the future becomes the "narrative frame" through which we see and tackle leadership challenges today. Because organizations are fundamentally networks of conversations, an organization's ability to create new language practices is tantamount to its ability to evolve. What makes the future compelling is the embodiment of our deepest convictions and ideals in our image of the future. Because health care reform has challenged the medical profession along the entire spectrum of its traditional values and roles, working toward a unifying vision of the future has been difficult. To enroll others in creating a better future, effective leaders must underscore the purpose and importance of their work and motivate them with inspiring stories.

  17. Wisdom in Context.

    PubMed

    Grossmann, Igor

    2017-03-01

    Philosophers and psychological scientists have converged on the idea that wisdom involves certain aspects of thinking (e.g., intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change), enabling application of knowledge to life challenges. Empirical evidence indicates that people's ability to think wisely varies dramatically across experiential contexts that they encounter over the life span. Moreover, wise thinking varies from one situation to another, with self-focused contexts inhibiting wise thinking. Experiments can show ways to buffer thinking against bias in cases in which self-interests are unavoidable. Specifically, an ego-decentering cognitive mind-set enables wise thinking about personally meaningful issues. It appears that experiential, situational, and cultural factors are even more powerful in shaping wisdom than previously imagined. Focus on such contextual factors sheds new light on the processes underlying wise thought and its development, helps to integrate different approaches to studying wisdom, and has implications for measurement and development of wisdom-enhancing interventions.

  18. The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking?

    PubMed

    Peters, David H

    2014-08-26

    This paper explores the question of what systems thinking adds to the field of global health. Observing that elements of systems thinking are already common in public health research, the article discusses which of the large body of theories, methods, and tools associated with systems thinking are more useful. The paper reviews the origins of systems thinking, describing a range of the theories, methods, and tools. A common thread is the idea that the behavior of systems is governed by common principles that can be discovered and expressed. They each address problems of complexity, which is a frequent challenge in global health. The different methods and tools are suited to different types of inquiry and involve both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The paper concludes by emphasizing that explicit models used in systems thinking provide new opportunities to understand and continuously test and revise our understanding of the nature of things, including how to intervene to improve people's health.

  19. First Year ESL Students Developing Critical Thinking: Challenging the Stereotypes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yongyan

    2013-01-01

    Reporting a case study of two high-achieving Chinese students studying at a university in Hong Kong, this paper presents evidence that poses an anti-thesis to the stereotypes of first year university students as holding naïve beliefs about learning and of "Chinese learners" as lacking in critical thinking. Many studies have examined…

  20. Re-Thinking School-University Collaboration: Agenda for the 21st Century

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wasonga, C. O.; Rari, B. O.; Wanzare, Z. O.

    2011-01-01

    Collaboration is a hard and challenging endeavor. It takes all the key players to make it happen. This paper discusses our current thinking about school-university collaboration. In it, we define what collaboration involves in the context of universities and schools. Next, we discuss what we believe are the essential benefits of effective…

  1. The Strategic Attitude: Integrating Strategic Planning into Daily University Worklife

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dickmeyer, Nathan

    2004-01-01

    Chief financial officers in today's universities are so busy with the challenges of day-to-day management that strategic thinking often takes a back seat. Planning for strategic change can go a long way toward streamlining the very daily tasks that obscure the "big picture." Learning how to integrate strategic thinking into day-to-day management…

  2. Student Strategies Suggesting Emergence of Mental Structures Supporting Logical and Abstract Thinking: Multiplicative Reasoning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carrier, Jim

    2014-01-01

    For many students, developing mathematical reasoning can prove to be challenging. Such difficulty may be explained by a deficit in the core understanding of many arithmetical concepts taught in early school years. Multiplicative reasoning is one such concept that produces an essential foundation upon which higher-level mathematical thinking skills…

  3. Teaching Thinking Skills in Context-Based Learning: Teachers' Challenges and Assessment Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Avargil, Shirly; Herscovitz, Orit; Dori, Yehudit Judy

    2012-01-01

    For an educational reform to succeed, teachers need to adjust their perceptions to the reform's new curricula and strategies and cope with new content, as well as new teaching and assessment strategies. Developing students' scientific literacy through context-based chemistry and higher order thinking skills was the framework for establishing a new…

  4. A Response to Oivind Varkoy, "Instrumentalism in the Field of Music Education: Are We All Humanists?"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westerlund, Heidi

    2007-01-01

    Oivind Varkoy challenges music educators who start their educational work from well-defined learning outcomes and who then test and assess whether students have achieved these predefined ends. He argues that "ends-means-thinking," "assessment-thinking," and "some sort of market-philosophy" all relate to "instrumentalism" in which learners are…

  5. Critical Thinking of Young Citizens towards News Headlines in Chile

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vernier, Matthieu; Cárcamo, Luis; Scheihing, Eliana

    2018-01-01

    Strengthening critical thinking abilities of citizens in the face of news published on the web represents a key challenge for education. Young citizens appear to be vulnerable in the face of poor quality news or those containing non-explicit ideologies. In the field of data science, computational and statistical techniques have been developed to…

  6. Learning Electricity with NIELS: Thinking with Electrons and Thinking in Levels

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sengupta, Pratim; Wilensky, Uri

    2009-01-01

    Electricity is regarded as one of the most challenging topics for students of all ages. Several researchers have suggested that naive misconceptions about electricity stem from a deep incommensurability (Slotta and Chi 2006; Chi 2005) or incompatibility (Chi et al. 1994) between naive and expert knowledge structures. In this paper we argue that…

  7. The Challenges of Assignment Design in Discipline-Based Freshman Writing Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilner, Arlene

    2005-01-01

    In this author's research, the question of whether it makes sense to think of writing primarily as a generic skill acquired increasing urgency as she gathered qualitative data for a study of the relationship between instructors' expectations in the design of writing assignments and the students' thinking as evidenced both in their essay responses…

  8. Using Visual Literacy to Help Adolescents Understand How Images Influence Their Lives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zambo, Debby M.

    2009-01-01

    Students with physical disabilities face challenges because of the way they look, communicate, or behave. What children see--the visual--is often central to what they think, and in today's world the thinking of adolescents is being influenced by images more than ever before. Both still and moving images are capturing the attention of adolescents…

  9. Violence Prevention and Students with Disabilities: Thinking Functionally and Providing Evidence Based Supports and Accommodations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosenberg, Michael S.

    2012-01-01

    Students with disabilities who engage in high rates of challenging behaviors require educators who employ function-based thinking and have a particular sensitivity to the wide range of factors that influence student behavior. In essence, educators working with special needs students need to know what makes their instruction "special"; they must…

  10. Enhancing critical thinking with case studies and nursing process.

    PubMed

    Neill, K M; Lachat, M F; Taylor-Panek, S

    1997-01-01

    Challenged to enhance critical thinking concepts in a sophomore nursing process course, faculty expanded the lecture format to include group explorations of patient case studies. The group format facilitated a higher level of analysis of patient cases and more sophisticated applications of nursing process. This teaching strategy was a positive learning experience for students and faculty.

  11. Wiki Activities in Blended Learning for Health Professional Students: Enhancing Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning Skills

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snodgrass, Suzanne

    2011-01-01

    Health professionals use critical thinking, a key problem solving skill, for clinical reasoning which is defined as the use of knowledge and reflective inquiry to diagnose a clinical problem. Teaching these skills in traditional settings with growing class sizes is challenging, and students increasingly expect learning that is flexible and…

  12. Multiple Choice Questions Can Be Designed or Revised to Challenge Learners' Critical Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tractenberg, Rochelle E.; Gushta, Matthew M.; Mulroney, Susan E.; Weissinger, Peggy A.

    2013-01-01

    Multiple choice (MC) questions from a graduate physiology course were evaluated by cognitive-psychology (but not physiology) experts, and analyzed statistically, in order to test the independence of content expertise and cognitive complexity ratings of MC items. Integration of higher order thinking into MC exams is important, but widely known to…

  13. Design Thinking: A Process for Developing and Implementing Lasting District Reform. Knowledge Brief

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rice, Erik

    2011-01-01

    Traditionally, challenges such as how to sustain district reform, how to build a leadership pipeline, how to create an integrated project, or how to best intervene with struggling students would be resolved with a team of "experts" developing a solution in isolation of the stakeholders involved. By contrast, design thinking centers on the…

  14. The Mock Trial: A Dynamic Exercise for Thinking Critically about Management Theories, Topics, and Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farmer, Kevin; Meisel, Steven I.; Seltzer, Joe; Kane, Kathleen

    2013-01-01

    The Mock Trial is an experiential exercise adapted from a law school process that encourages students to think critically about theories, topics, and the practice of management in an innovative classroom experience. Playing the role of attorneys and witnesses, learners ask questions and challenge assumptions by playing roles in a trial with…

  15. Learning to See Teaching in New Ways: A Foundation for Maintaining Cognitive Demand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tekkumru Kisa, Miray; Stein, Mary Kay

    2015-01-01

    Students' opportunities to learn how to think are embedded in the instructional tasks with which they are invited to engage in the classroom. Prior research has revealed that the selection and use of cognitively demanding tasks does not guarantee high-level student thinking during their enactment. To address this challenge, we designed and…

  16. The Challenge of Promoting Algorithmic Thinking of Both Sciences- and Humanities-Oriented Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Katai, Z.

    2015-01-01

    The research results we present in this paper reveal that properly calibrated e-learning tools have potential to effectively promote the algorithmic thinking of both science-oriented and humanities-oriented students. After students had watched an illustration (by a folk dance choreography) and an animation of the studied sorting algorithm (bubble…

  17. Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills in First Year Environmental Management Students: A Tale of Curriculum Design, Application and Reflection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whiley, Dona; Witt, Bradd; Colvin, R. M.; Sapiains Arrue, Rodolfo; Kotir, Julius

    2017-01-01

    This paper chronicles the experience of academic staff in developing a course to enhance the critical thinking skills of environmental management undergraduates. We outline our considerations and process for course development, discuss insights from course evaluations, and reflect on the challenges encountered. We believe these perspectives will…

  18. Sustained Shared Thinking in an Early Childhood Setting: An Exploration of Practitioners' Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Purdon, Anne

    2016-01-01

    Sustained shared thinking (SST) has been identified in the Teachers Standards (Early Years) (2013) as contributing to good progress and outcomes by children. In this paper, I define SST and discuss the outcomes of a study of practitioners' understandings of SST, its challenges and benefits. Writing frames, questionnaires and focus group interviews…

  19. Enhancing Students' Computer Programming Performances, Critical Thinking Awareness and Attitudes towards Programming: An Online Peer-Assessment Attempt

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Xiao-Ming; Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Liang, Zi-Yun; Wang, Hsiu-Ying

    2017-01-01

    It has become an important and challenging issue to foster students' concepts and skills of computer programming. Scholars believe that programming training could promote students' higher order thinking performance; however, many school teachers have reported the difficulty of teaching programming courses. Although several previous studies have…

  20. Transforming Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs and Understandings about Design and Technologies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Best, Marnie

    2017-01-01

    Design and Technologies challenges students to think differently: to think critically and creatively. Yet, how, when and why students are exposed to Design and Technologies curriculum in school classrooms is at the prerogative of their teacher. For this reason, it is imperative that pre-service teachers are inspired by and engaged through…

  1. The Relationship of Teacher-Facilitated, Inquiry-Based Instruction to Student Higher-Order Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marshall, Jeff C.; Horton, Robert M.

    2011-01-01

    Commissions, studies, and reports continue to call for inquiry-based learning approaches in science and math that challenge students to think critically and deeply. While working with a group of middle school science and math teachers, we conducted more than 100 classroom observations, assessing several attributes of inquiry-based instruction. We…

  2. Who Can Know Mathematics?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walshaw, Margaret

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores contemporary thinking about learning mathematics, and within that, social justice within mathematics education. The discussion first looks at mechanisms offered by conventional explanations on the emancipatory project and then moves towards more recent insights developed within mathematics education. Synergies are drawn between…

  3. Genetic transformation in citrus: Thinking outside the box

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Conventional breeding methods to incorporate resistance in citrus are very slow, due to extended juvenility from seedling trees and multiple generations needed to incorporate resistance from distant relatives. Use of transgenic methods may provide disease resistance in less time. Published protocols...

  4. Teaching for Successful Intelligence Raises School Achievement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sternberg, Robert J.; Torff, Bruce; Grigorenko, Elena

    1998-01-01

    A "successful intelligence" intervention improved school achievement for a group of 225 ethnically diverse third-graders, both on performance assessments measuring analytical, creative, and practical achievements and on conventional multiple-choice memory assessments. Teaching for triarchic thinking facilitates factual recall, because learning…

  5. Making the Constitution Meaningful.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pelow, Randall A.

    1989-01-01

    Describes learning activities based on the U.S. Constitution that enhance higher level thinking skills in elementary students. One activity proposes a hypothetical constitutional amendment banning Saturday cartoons; a second taxes children's earnings; and other activities focus on dramatizing events surrounding the Constitutional Convention. (LS)

  6. Vitalistic thinking in adults.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Stuart

    2013-11-01

    Vitalistic thinking has traditionally been associated with reasoning about biological phenomena. The current research aimed to investigate a broader range of vitalistic thinking than previously studied. Esoteric notions of 'energy' are frequently used by individuals when making causal attributions for strange occurrences, and previous literature has linked such thinking with paranormal, magical, and superstitious beliefs. Two experiments are described that aim to investigate whether adults are vitalistic when asked to make causal judgments, and whether this can be predicted by thinking styles and prior paranormal belief. Experiment 1 asked participants to rate three causal options (one of which was vitalistic) for six vignettes. Scores on one dimension of paranormal belief (New Age Philosophy) and analytical thinking significantly predicted vitalism, but scores on intuitive thinking and Traditional Paranormal Beliefs did not. Experiment 2 extended the findings by asking participants to generate their own causal responses. Again, paranormal belief was found to be the best predictor of vitalism, but this time Traditional Paranormal Beliefs were associated with vitalistic responses whilst both intuitive and analytical thinking were unable to significantly predict classification. Results challenge previous findings, suggesting that vitalistic thinking may operate differently when applied to everyday causal reasoning. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

  7. Teaching Mathematics: Challenging the Sacred Cow of Mathematical Certainty.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borba, Marcelo C.

    1992-01-01

    Challenges the concept of mathematical certainty and questions whether it is a useful concept for elementary and secondary mathematics curriculum. Encourages teachers to bring this issue into the classroom and ask students to think about it critically. (HB)

  8. Toward Green Challenge Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Karl E.

    1999-01-01

    Designing environmentally friendly challenge courses involves considering factors such as clearing, trees versus poles, soil erosion and compaction, toilet design, waste disposal, and carrying capacity. Strategies used in "green development" such as systems thinking, solution multipliers, and brainstorming with stakeholders could promote…

  9. Critical Thinking and Disposition Toward Critical Thinking Among Physical Therapy Students.

    PubMed

    Domenech, Manuel A; Watkins, Phillip

    2015-01-01

    Students who enter a physical therapist (PT) entry-level program with weak critical thinking skills may not be prepared to benefit from the educational training program or successfully engage in the future as a competent healthcare provider. Therefore, assessing PT students' entry-level critical thinking skills and/or disposition toward critical thinking may be beneficial to identifying students with poor, fair, or good critical thinking ability as one of the criteria used in the admissions process into a professional program. First-year students (n=71) from the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center completed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI), and demographic survey during orientation to the DPT program. Three students were lost from the CCTST (n=68), and none lost from the CCTDI (n=71). Analysis indicated that the majority of students had a positive disposition toward critical thinking, yet the overall CCTST suggested that these students were somewhat below the national average. Also, individuals taking math and science prerequisites at the community-college level tended to have lower overall CCTST scores. The entering DPT class demonstrated moderate or middle range scores in critical thinking and disposition toward critical thinking. This result does not indicate, but might suggest, the potential for learning challenges. Assessing critical thinking skills as part of the admissions process may prove advantageous.

  10. Re-thinking residential mobility

    PubMed Central

    van Ham, Maarten; Findlay, Allan M.

    2015-01-01

    While researchers are increasingly re-conceptualizing international migration, far less attention has been devoted to re-thinking short-distance residential mobility and immobility. In this paper we harness the life course approach to propose a new conceptual framework for residential mobility research. We contend that residential mobility and immobility should be re-conceptualized as relational practices that link lives through time and space while connecting people to structural conditions. Re-thinking and re-assessing residential mobility by exploiting new developments in longitudinal analysis will allow geographers to understand, critique and address pressing societal challenges. PMID:27330243

  11. Thinking on Your Feet: Understanding the Immediate Responses of Staff to Adults Who Challenge Intellectual Disability Services

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ravoux, Peggy; Baker, Peter; Brown, Hilary

    2012-01-01

    Background: A gap prevails between the conceptualization of good practice in challenging behaviour management and its implementation in intellectual disability services. This study aimed to investigate staff members' perspectives of managing clients with challenging behaviours in residential services. Materials and Methods: Semi-structured…

  12. Empowering Youth to Think and Act Critically About Complex Climate Issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harden, L.; Michelson, M.; Schufreider, M.; Babcock, E.; Klotz-Chamberlin, R.; Bagley, E.; Cassidy, E. S.; Levedahl, K.; Perez, N.; Vanderbilt, C.; Hammond, K.; Brutus, D.; Arrowsmith, T.

    2016-12-01

    The world is facing complex environmental challenges and a changing climate is one of the most pressing. These challenges require innovative solutions, which can only be achieved by first developing a more science and environmentally literate public through high-quality education. We know a lot about how to frame climate change messages to be most effective for adults (1). However, we know much less about how youth respond to these same messages. It is important to engage adolescents in these conversations, as this is the age when kids begin to think more critically and abstractly about complex problems, but also when peer and social influences increase in importance (2). Thus, middle school is a critical point in young students' lives when they might either lose interest in science or gain a strong science identity. To keep them interested and invested in science and environmental issues, we need relevant and transformative climate change materials for use in the classroom—materials that are video-based, compelling, and presented by other youth. The California Academy of Sciences has developed a video-based series with lessons supporting the NGSS called Flipside Science that challenges youth to think critically about complex environmental issues. Exploring Energy: Designing a Brighter Future is a unit within this series that engages youth in thinking about how we can make changes to our current energy uses and behaviors to combat climate change. The videos in the unit are hosted by diverse teens who bring an optimistic and relevant voice to these issues, and the associated lessons engage students in honing their design thinking and problem-solving skills. Although intended for use inside the classroom, these resources inspire action among youth outside of the classroom and in their communities. Initial evaluations of two other Flipside Science units on water and food issues indicate that the youth-powered nature of the videos and the real-world challenges posed in the lessons are meaningful to students and useful for teachers. They also point the way to reimagining how environmental issues are taught by presenting them in a youth voice and injecting youth perspective on these pressing problems.1 ecoAmerica et al. (2015). Let's Talk Climate: Messages to Motivate Americans. 2 Keating, D P (1990). Adolescent thinking.

  13. Understanding the Complex Relationship between Critical Thinking and Science Reasoning among Undergraduate Thesis Writers.

    PubMed

    Dowd, Jason E; Thompson, Robert J; Schiff, Leslie A; Reynolds, Julie A

    2018-01-01

    Developing critical-thinking and scientific reasoning skills are core learning objectives of science education, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the interrelationships between these constructs. Writing effectively fosters students' development of these constructs, and it offers a unique window into studying how they relate. In this study of undergraduate thesis writing in biology at two universities, we examine how scientific reasoning exhibited in writing (assessed using the Biology Thesis Assessment Protocol) relates to general and specific critical-thinking skills (assessed using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test), and we consider implications for instruction. We find that scientific reasoning in writing is strongly related to inference , while other aspects of science reasoning that emerge in writing (epistemological considerations, writing conventions, etc.) are not significantly related to critical-thinking skills. Science reasoning in writing is not merely a proxy for critical thinking. In linking features of students' writing to their critical-thinking skills, this study 1) provides a bridge to prior work suggesting that engagement in science writing enhances critical thinking and 2) serves as a foundational step for subsequently determining whether instruction focused explicitly on developing critical-thinking skills (particularly inference ) can actually improve students' scientific reasoning in their writing. © 2018 J. E. Dowd et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  14. Development of soft scaffolding strategy to improve student’s creative thinking ability in physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nurulsari, Novinta; Abdurrahman; Suyatna, Agus

    2017-11-01

    Student’s creative thinking ability in physics learning can be developed through a learning experience. However, many students fail to gain a learning experience because of the lack of teacher roles in providing assistance to students when they face learning difficulties. In this study, a soft scaffolding strategy developed to improve student’s creative thinking ability in physics, especially in optical instruments. The methods used were qualitative and quantitative. The soft scaffolding strategy developed was called the 6E Soft Scaffolding Strategy where 6E stands for Explore real-life problems, Engage students with web technology, Enable experiment using analogies, Elaborate data through multiple representations, Encourage questioning, and Ensure the feedback. The strategy was applied to 60 students in secondary school through cooperative learning. As a comparison, conventional strategies were also applied to 60 students in the same school and grade. The result of the study showed that the soft scaffolding strategy was effective in improving student’s creative thinking ability.

  15. A Diabetes Dashboard and Physician Efficiency and Accuracy in Accessing Data Needed for High-Quality Diabetes Care

    PubMed Central

    Koopman, Richelle J.; Kochendorfer, Karl M.; Moore, Joi L.; Mehr, David R.; Wakefield, Douglas S.; Yadamsuren, Borchuluun; Coberly, Jared S.; Kruse, Robin L.; Wakefield, Bonnie J.; Belden, Jeffery L.

    2011-01-01

    PURPOSE We compared use of a new diabetes dashboard screen with use of a conventional approach of viewing multiple electronic health record (EHR) screens to find data needed for ambulatory diabetes care. METHODS We performed a usability study, including a quantitative time study and qualitative analysis of information-seeking behaviors. While being recorded with Morae Recorder software and “think-aloud” interview methods, 10 primary care physicians first searched their EHR for 10 diabetes data elements using a conventional approach for a simulated patient, and then using a new diabetes dashboard for another. We measured time, number of mouse clicks, and accuracy. Two coders analyzed think-aloud and interview data using grounded theory methodology. RESULTS The mean time needed to find all data elements was 5.5 minutes using the conventional approach vs 1.3 minutes using the diabetes dashboard (P <.001). Physicians correctly identified 94% of the data requested using the conventional method, vs 100% with the dashboard (P <.01). The mean number of mouse clicks was 60 for conventional searching vs 3 clicks with the diabetes dashboard (P <.001). A common theme was that in everyday practice, if physicians had to spend too much time searching for data, they would either continue without it or order a test again. CONCLUSIONS Using a patient-specific diabetes dashboard improves both the efficiency and accuracy of acquiring data needed for high-quality diabetes care. Usability analysis tools can provide important insights into the value of optimizing physician use of health information technologies. PMID:21911758

  16. Using the Socratic Method in Secondary Teaching.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schoeman, Stephen

    1997-01-01

    Students are more accustomed to receiving knowledge than to questioning knowledge, challenging underlying assumptions, and seeing inconsistencies and irrelevancies. The Socratic method requires teachers to challenge students' critical thinking abilities by developing questions based on analogies and hypothetical situations. Although the Socratic…

  17. Clinical review: Thinking outside the box - an iconoclastic view of current practice

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Many advances in medicine have been achieved through challenging established dogma with revolutionary thought and novel practices. Each and every specialty is reinvigorated by regular re-evaluation of processes and practices in the light of new evidence and fresh conceptualization. Challenge can galvanize fresh thinking and new approaches, yet may also reinforce and strengthen traditional paradigms if the prevailing orthodoxy is subsequently revalidated. This article is a synopsis of a roundtable meeting held in Brussels in March 2010 designed specifically to confront doctrine with reasoned scientific argument, and to propose new ideas for advancing critical care practices and outcomes. PMID:21888690

  18. Evolving Applications, Technological Challenges and Future Opportunities in Neuromodulation: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank

    PubMed Central

    Ramirez-Zamora, Adolfo; Giordano, James J.; Gunduz, Aysegul; Brown, Peter; Sanchez, Justin C.; Foote, Kelly D.; Almeida, Leonardo; Starr, Philip A.; Bronte-Stewart, Helen M.; Hu, Wei; McIntyre, Cameron; Goodman, Wayne; Kumsa, Doe; Grill, Warren M.; Walker, Harrison C.; Johnson, Matthew D.; Vitek, Jerrold L.; Greene, David; Rizzuto, Daniel S.; Song, Dong; Berger, Theodore W.; Hampson, Robert E.; Deadwyler, Sam A.; Hochberg, Leigh R.; Schiff, Nicholas D.; Stypulkowski, Paul; Worrell, Greg; Tiruvadi, Vineet; Mayberg, Helen S.; Jimenez-Shahed, Joohi; Nanda, Pranav; Sheth, Sameer A.; Gross, Robert E.; Lempka, Scott F.; Li, Luming; Deeb, Wissam; Okun, Michael S.

    2018-01-01

    The annual Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Think Tank provides a focal opportunity for a multidisciplinary ensemble of experts in the field of neuromodulation to discuss advancements and forthcoming opportunities and challenges in the field. The proceedings of the fifth Think Tank summarize progress in neuromodulation neurotechnology and techniques for the treatment of a range of neuropsychiatric conditions including Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor, Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, epilepsy and cognitive, and motor disorders. Each section of this overview of the meeting provides insight to the critical elements of discussion, current challenges, and identified future directions of scientific and technological development and application. The report addresses key issues in developing, and emphasizes major innovations that have occurred during the past year. Specifically, this year's meeting focused on technical developments in DBS, design considerations for DBS electrodes, improved sensors, neuronal signal processing, advancements in development and uses of responsive DBS (closed-loop systems), updates on National Institutes of Health and DARPA DBS programs of the BRAIN initiative, and neuroethical and policy issues arising in and from DBS research and applications in practice. PMID:29416498

  19. Evolving Applications, Technological Challenges and Future Opportunities in Neuromodulation: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank.

    PubMed

    Ramirez-Zamora, Adolfo; Giordano, James J; Gunduz, Aysegul; Brown, Peter; Sanchez, Justin C; Foote, Kelly D; Almeida, Leonardo; Starr, Philip A; Bronte-Stewart, Helen M; Hu, Wei; McIntyre, Cameron; Goodman, Wayne; Kumsa, Doe; Grill, Warren M; Walker, Harrison C; Johnson, Matthew D; Vitek, Jerrold L; Greene, David; Rizzuto, Daniel S; Song, Dong; Berger, Theodore W; Hampson, Robert E; Deadwyler, Sam A; Hochberg, Leigh R; Schiff, Nicholas D; Stypulkowski, Paul; Worrell, Greg; Tiruvadi, Vineet; Mayberg, Helen S; Jimenez-Shahed, Joohi; Nanda, Pranav; Sheth, Sameer A; Gross, Robert E; Lempka, Scott F; Li, Luming; Deeb, Wissam; Okun, Michael S

    2017-01-01

    The annual Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Think Tank provides a focal opportunity for a multidisciplinary ensemble of experts in the field of neuromodulation to discuss advancements and forthcoming opportunities and challenges in the field. The proceedings of the fifth Think Tank summarize progress in neuromodulation neurotechnology and techniques for the treatment of a range of neuropsychiatric conditions including Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor, Tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, epilepsy and cognitive, and motor disorders. Each section of this overview of the meeting provides insight to the critical elements of discussion, current challenges, and identified future directions of scientific and technological development and application. The report addresses key issues in developing, and emphasizes major innovations that have occurred during the past year. Specifically, this year's meeting focused on technical developments in DBS, design considerations for DBS electrodes, improved sensors, neuronal signal processing, advancements in development and uses of responsive DBS (closed-loop systems), updates on National Institutes of Health and DARPA DBS programs of the BRAIN initiative, and neuroethical and policy issues arising in and from DBS research and applications in practice.

  20. 15 CFR 717.1 - Clarification procedures; challenge inspection requests pursuant to Article IX of the Convention.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Clarification procedures; challenge... COMMERCE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION REGULATIONS CWC CLARIFICATION PROCEDURES (CONSULTATIONS AND CHALLENGE INSPECTIONS) § 717.1 Clarification procedures; challenge inspection requests pursuant to Article IX of the...

  1. Global impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy: A general equilibrium perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evans, Samuel Garner

    The conversion of biomass to energy represents a promising pathway forward in efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation and electricity sectors. In addition to potential benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and increased energy security, bioenergy production also presents a unique set of challenges. These challenges include tradeoffs between food and fuel production, distortions in energy markets, and terrestrial emissions associated with changing land-use patterns. Each of these challenges arises from market-mediated responses to bioenergy production, and are therefore largely economic in nature. This dissertation directly addresses these opportunities and challenges by evaluating the economic impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy, focusing on both existing and future biomass-to-energy pathways. The analysis approaches the issue from a global, economy-wide perspective, reflecting two important facts. First, that large-scale bioenergy production connects multiple sectors of the economy due to the use of agricultural land resources for biomass production, and competition with fossil fuels in energy markets. Second, markets for both agricultural and energy commodities are highly integrated globally, causing domestic policies to have international effects. The reader can think of this work as being comprised of three parts. Part I provides context through an extensive review of the literature on the market-mediated effects of conventional biofuel production (Chapter 2) and develops a general equilibrium modeling framework for assessing the extent to which these phenomenon present a challenge for future bioenergy pathways (Chapter 3). Part II (Chapter 4) explores the economic impacts of the lignocellulosic biofuel production targets set in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard on global agricultural and energy commodity markets. Part III (Chapter 5) extends the analysis to consider potential inefficiencies associated with policy-induced competition for biomass between the electricity and transportation fuel sectors.

  2. Conception of Teaching Higher Order Thinking: Perspectives of Chinese Teachers in Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeung, Sze-yin Shirley

    2015-01-01

    Enhancing the higher order thinking (HOT) ability of students is a worldwide educational goal. This has also become a significant objective in the curriculum reforms in Hong Kong, which aims at better preparation of students to meet the challenges of the new era. Cultural aspects are often regarded as salient in determining approaches to teaching.…

  3. Seeing It Through: Why It's Essential to Talk about Race in School and at Home

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greene, Robert

    2016-01-01

    Some parents and educators think about issues of identity and cultural differences, and they wonder "how long they can delay" the conversation with their students because they do not want to introduce concepts that might be too complex or challenging for young children. Others think about issues of identity and cultural differences and…

  4. Enhancing Educators' Skills for Promoting Critical Thinking in Their Classroom Discourses: A Randomized Control Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gul, Raisa B.; Khan, Shehla; Ahmed, Azra; Cassum, Shanaz; Saeed, Tanveer; Parpio, Yasmin; Schopflocher, Donald; Profetto-McGrath, Joanne

    2014-01-01

    The literature reveals that educators find it challenging to foster critical thinking (CT) in their students if they have not learned how to use CT in their educational system or training. This paper reports findings from a national research project that was undertaken to enhance the educators' ability to promote CT in their teaching practices.…

  5. Increasing Higher Level Thinking Skills in Science of Gifted Students in Grades 1-4 through "Hands-On" Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dindial, Myrna J.

    This practicum was designed to increase higher level thinking skills of gifted students in primary school. The project sought to retrain students from recalling science information from the textbook to a more challenging and active form of learning through individual projects and small group and large group activities. Students were given…

  6. Pilot Study Using the Augmented Reality Sandbox to Teach Topographic Maps and Surficial Processes in Introductory Geology Labs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woods, Terri L.; Reed, Sarah; Hsi, Sherry; Woods, John A.; Woods, Michael R.

    2016-01-01

    Spatial thinking is often challenging for introductory geology students. A pilot study using the Augmented Reality sandbox (AR sandbox) suggests it can be a powerful tool for bridging the gap between two-dimensional (2D) representations and real landscapes, as well as enhancing the spatial thinking and modeling abilities of students. The AR…

  7. National Strategies for Educational Leaders to Implement Postmodern Thinking in Public Education in the United States of America

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Clarence

    2006-01-01

    Our world today is full of challenges and opportunities. Religion is at the center of attention by the world audience. Civilization will survive if, and only if, educational leaders implement postmodern thinking in public education. Postmodernism was originally a critique of modernism. My views support postmodernism as a current state of mind…

  8. You Have Got a (Different) Friend in Me: Asymmetrical Roles in Gaming as Potential Ambassadors of Computational and Cooperative Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gandolfi, Enrico

    2018-01-01

    This article aims to enlighten how individuals apply and develop cooperative and computational thinking in online collaborative challenges, and what ludic features support or discourage such approaches. Over n = 1400 subjects have been involved with a quantitative survey about three collaboration-based video games--i.e. "Overwatch,"…

  9. Immigration: From Global to Local to Kids. Forum 411: Engaging Arizona's Leaders. Edition 1, Issue 1

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Arizona State University, 2008

    2008-01-01

    Few people think of kids when they think of immigration, yet immigration is as much about children and parents as it is about workers and employers. In fact, the opportunities and challenges represented by Arizona's global generations may be as far-reaching as sanctions and "sweeps." What's going on? This briefing reviews the basics…

  10. Engendering a Culture of Thinking in a Culture of Performativity: The Challenge of Mediating Tensions in the Singaporean Educational System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ab Kadir, Mohammad Akshir

    2017-01-01

    Among the major policies that have been implemented to ensure its continued success, "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" (TSLN) has been described as the "big bang of educational reforms" in Singapore. However, while the policy aims to develop critical thinkers in school leavers, the corporatisation of education in the shape of…

  11. Fostering Creative Thinking in the Institutional Army

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-10

    creative thought . Primary Research Question Given the imperatives of warfighting challenge #10 and the necessity of field grade officers to influence...thinking throughout their organizations. This drives the primary research question, “does CGSOC foster creative thought for resident students?” If...organizations. Secondary Research Questions In order to answer the primary question, “does CGSOC foster creative thought in resident students?” the

  12. Engineering Encounters: No, David! but Yes, Design! Kindergarten Students Are Introduced to a Design Way of Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Douglass, Helen

    2016-01-01

    This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance science teaching. In today's classrooms, teachers face numerous challenges. They are preparing students for jobs and careers that are not even conceived of yet. Assessments are being used to address students' college and career readiness and to promote critical thinking and problem solving.…

  13. A Mosquito in the Classroom: Using the Cooperative Business Model to Foster Paradoxical Thinking in Management Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Audebrand, Luc K.; Camus, Annie; Michaud, Valérie

    2017-01-01

    Although the paradox perspective is gaining increasing attention among management scholars, most of us continue to struggle with addressing this challenging topic in the classroom, as it seems out of reach for many students. In this article, we describe a potentially beneficial way to approach paradoxical thinking in management education: teaching…

  14. Investigating the Impact of Using a CAD Simulation Tool on Students' Learning of Design Thinking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taleyarkhan, Manaz; Dasgupta, Chandan; Garcia, John Mendoza; Magana, Alejandra J.

    2018-02-01

    Engineering design thinking is hard to teach and still harder to learn by novices primarily due to the undetermined nature of engineering problems that often results in multiple solutions. In this paper, we investigate the effect of teaching engineering design thinking to freshmen students by using a computer-aided Design (CAD) simulation software. We present a framework for characterizing different levels of engineering design thinking displayed by students who interacted with the CAD simulation software in the context of a collaborative assignment. This framework describes the presence of four levels of engineering design thinking—beginning designer, adept beginning designer, informed designer, adept informed designer. We present the characteristics associated with each of these four levels as they pertain to four engineering design strategies that students pursued in this study—understanding the design challenge, building knowledge, weighing options and making tradeoffs, and reflecting on the process. Students demonstrated significant improvements in two strategies—understanding the design challenge and building knowledge. We discuss the affordances of the CAD simulation tool along with the learning environment that potentially helped students move towards Adept informed designers while pursuing these design strategies.

  15. Defense AT&L (Volume 36, Number 2, March-April 2007)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-04-01

    87 28 The Pursuit of Courage, Judg- ment, and Luck Maj. Dan Ward, USAF Maj. Chris Quaid, USAF Conventional wisdom states that a closed risk is a good...example) that could be as much as 50 percent dirt. Many agencies were buying adobe bricks that were not kiln -fired, so within two or three seasons of...all too many PMs think a good risk management process simply identifies and mitigates the bad things that can happen. Conventional risk manage- ment

  16. The 'think test': a further technique to elicit hyperventilation.

    PubMed Central

    Nixon, P G; Freeman, L J

    1988-01-01

    Hyperventilation can undermine cardiovascular homeostasis by generating autonomic imbalance, sympathetic dominance, hypokalaemia, and intracellular alkalosis with calcium ion shifts. The role of hyperventilation in episodic disorders such as arrhythmia and coronary vasospasm can be difficult to identify if the patient does not present in an attack and so a provocation challenge is required. Today, the standard challenge is the forced hyperventilation provocation test (FHPT). A capnograph enables the resting end-tidal PCO2 to be compared with the level 3 min after the period of overbreathing. We report the use of a patient-specific challenge. After the FHPT, the subject is invited to close his eyes and think about the circumstances of an attack, feelings and sensations experienced (breathing is not mentioned) or topics that were seen to disturb the rhythm of breathing when the medical history was taken. A fall of end-tidal PCO2 of 10 mmHg or more lasting at least one minute was taken as a positive response. Out of 57 patients with cardiovascular symptoms suggesting a hypocapnic influence, resting hypocapnia (end-tidal PCO2 = 30 mmHg) was present in 3 (5%). Of the remaining 54, the FHPT was positive in 16 (30%) and the 'think test' in 33 (61%). This suggests that patient-specific stimulation has advantages over an unspecific challenge in testing for episodic hypocapnia. PMID:3133476

  17. Perceived Challenges in Primary Literature in a Master's Class: Effects of Experience and Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lie, Richard; Abdullah, Christopher; He, Wenliang; Tour, Ella

    2016-01-01

    Primary literature offers rich opportunities to teach students how to "think like a scientist," but the challenges students face when they attempt to read research articles are not well understood. Here, we present an analysis of what master's students perceive as the most challenging aspects of engaging with primary literature. We…

  18. Effect of a Diagram on Primary Students' Understanding About Electric Circuits

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Preston, Christine Margaret

    2017-09-01

    This article reports on the effect of using a diagram to develop primary students' conceptual understanding about electric circuits. Diagrammatic representations of electric circuits are used for teaching and assessment despite the absence of research on their pedagogical effectiveness with young learners. Individual interviews were used to closely analyse Years 3 and 5 (8-11-year-old) students' explanations about electric circuits. Data was collected from 20 students in the same school providing pre-, post- and delayed post-test dialogue. Students' thinking about electric circuits and changes in their explanations provide insights into the role of diagrams in understanding science concepts. Findings indicate that diagram interaction positively enhanced understanding, challenged non-scientific views and promoted scientific models of electric circuits. Differences in students' understanding about electric circuits were influenced by prior knowledge, meta-conceptual awareness and diagram conventions including a stylistic feature of the diagram used. A significant finding that students' conceptual models of electric circuits were energy rather than current based has implications for electricity instruction at the primary level.

  19. Inviting Student Engagement with Questioning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caram, Chris A.; Davis, Patsy B.

    2005-01-01

    Teaching is about designing, creating, and inventing intellectually challenging work for students--work that engages students and is so compelling that students persist when they experience difficulty and feel satisfaction, indeed delight, when they successfully accomplish the challenge (Schlechty 1997). Whether thinking skills are taught…

  20. Make or Buy? That's Really Not the Question

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peurach, Donald J.; Glazer, Joshua L.; Lenhoff, Sarah Winchell

    2012-01-01

    Conventional thinking holds that districts and schools face a strategic decision between two fundamentally different alternatives: make or buy? The former refers to planning, designing, and enacting school-specific improvement initiatives. The latter refers to contracting with external providers of schoolwide improvement programs. However, there…

  1. Discovery learning model with geogebra assisted for improvement mathematical visual thinking ability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Juandi, D.; Priatna, N.

    2018-05-01

    The main goal of this study is to improve the mathematical visual thinking ability of high school student through implementation the Discovery Learning Model with Geogebra Assisted. This objective can be achieved through study used quasi-experimental method, with non-random pretest-posttest control design. The sample subject of this research consist of 62 senior school student grade XI in one of school in Bandung district. The required data will be collected through documentation, observation, written tests, interviews, daily journals, and student worksheets. The results of this study are: 1) Improvement students Mathematical Visual Thinking Ability who obtain learning with applied the Discovery Learning Model with Geogebra assisted is significantly higher than students who obtain conventional learning; 2) There is a difference in the improvement of students’ Mathematical Visual Thinking ability between groups based on prior knowledge mathematical abilities (high, medium, and low) who obtained the treatment. 3) The Mathematical Visual Thinking Ability improvement of the high group is significantly higher than in the medium and low groups. 4) The quality of improvement ability of high and low prior knowledge is moderate category, in while the quality of improvement ability in the high category achieved by student with medium prior knowledge.

  2. Upgrading geometry conceptual understanding and strategic competence through implementing rigorous mathematical thinking (RMT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nugraheni, Z.; Budiyono, B.; Slamet, I.

    2018-03-01

    To reach higher order thinking skill, needed to be mastered the conceptual understanding and strategic competence as they are two basic parts of high order thinking skill (HOTS). RMT is a unique realization of the cognitive conceptual construction approach based on Feurstein with his theory of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. This was quasi-experimental research which compared the experimental class that was given Rigorous Mathematical Thinking (RMT) as learning method and the control class that was given Direct Learning (DL) as the conventional learning activity. This study examined whether there was different effect of two learning model toward conceptual understanding and strategic competence of Junior High School Students. The data was analyzed by using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and obtained a significant difference between experimental and control class when considered jointly on the mathematics conceptual understanding and strategic competence (shown by Wilk’s Λ = 0.84). Further, by independent t-test is known that there was significant difference between two classes both on mathematical conceptual understanding and strategic competence. By this result is known that Rigorous Mathematical Thinking (RMT) had positive impact toward Mathematics conceptual understanding and strategic competence.

  3. Shrews, rats, and a polecat in "the pardoner’s tale": Chapter 3

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Feinstein, Sandy; Woodman, Neal; Van Dyke, Carolynn

    2012-01-01

    While historically existing animals and literary animal characters inform allegorical and metaphorical characterization in The Canterbury Tales, figurative usage does not erase recognition of the material animal. "The Pardoner's Tale," for one, challenges the terms of conventional animal metaphors by refocusing attention on common animals as common animals and common human creatures as something worse than vermin. Most attention has been paid to the larger animals-goat, hare, and horse-that constitute the physical portrait of Chaucer's Pardoner in the "General Prologue" and in the prologue to his tale.! Like these animals, rats and a polecat, together with rhetorical shrews, appear in this tale as well as in other literature, including bestiaries and natural histories. Equally to the purpose, these animals could be physically observed as constituents of both urban and rural landscapes in fourteenth-century England.2 In the Middle Ages, animals were part of the environment as well as part of the culture: they lived inside as well as outside the city gates, priory walls, and even domestic spaces; a rat in the street or the garden might not be any less welcome or uncommon than encountering someone's horses and goats nibbling vegetation or blocking a passage. Not being out of the ordinary, though, such animals could (and can) be overlooked or dismissed as com­mon, too familiar to register. This chapter reveals why readers and listeners should pay close attention to the things they think they know and what they hear about what they think they know.

  4. Capital optimization: linking investment with strategic intent.

    PubMed

    Fine, Allan; Bacchetti, J Alex

    2004-01-01

    With operating margins showing some improvement in 2003, Y2K being a distant memory, and many critical capital investment decisions delayed as long as possible, hospitals have been on a relative spending spree, building new facilities, renovating operating rooms and inpatient units, and investing in new medical and information technologies. However, with pressure on both cost and revenue expected to continue, if not increase, this spending spree may be short-lived, and hospitals must improve their capital planning efforts; align them with their mission, vision, and strategies; and ensure that capital is available when unplanned or even expected needs arise. This article explores some of the challenges that hospitals face in their capital planning efforts and, more importantly, suggests the necessity for hospitals to integrate capital and strategic planning. Capital planning must be driven by an organization's strategies; however, we also argue that an organization's ability to execute its strategies is highly dependent on the existence of a cohesive capital prioritization and planning process. In this article, we explore a number of issues critical to developing a comprehensive capital plan, including estimating capital costs, evaluating and designing strategies to contend with risk, saving for the proverbial "rainy day," and recognizing the role and value of philanthropy, while challenging some conventional thinking of hospital executives with respect to investment, growth, and planning.

  5. Developing critical thinking skills from clinical assignments: a pilot study on nursing students' self-reported perceptions.

    PubMed

    Marchigiano, Gail; Eduljee, Nina; Harvey, Kimberly

    2011-01-01

    Clinical assignments in nursing education provide opportunities for students to develop thinking skills vital to the effective delivery of patient care. The purpose of the present study was to examine students' perceived levels of confidence for using thinking skills when completing two types of clinical assignments. Clinical educators and managers are challenged to develop teaching and learning strategies that help students think critically and reflectively and transfer these skills into sound nursing practice. This study is based on the theoretical framework of critical thinking within the nursing process framework. Undergraduate nursing students (n=51) completed surveys indicating their confidence in using seven thinking skills for nursing care. Students indicated significantly more confidence when implementing the journal format as compared with the care plan format when analysing information, determining relevance, making connections, selecting appropriate information, applying relevant knowledge and evaluating outcomes. The findings of the present study propose a new approach for enhancing students' thinking skills. Journaling is an effective strategy for enhancing students' thinking skills. Nursing managers are in key organisational positions for supporting and promoting the use of the journal format and building supportive and collaborative learning environments for students to develop thinking skills for managing patient care. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. The why, what, and how of management innovation.

    PubMed

    Hamel, Gary

    2006-02-01

    For organizations like GE, P&G, and Visa, management innovation is the secret to success. But what is management innovation? Why is it so important? And how can other companies learn to become management innovators? This article from expert Gary Hamel answers those questions. A management breakthrough can deliver a strong advantage to the innovating company and produce a major shift in industry leadership. Few companies, however, have been able to come up with a formal process for fostering management innovation. The biggest challenge seems to be generating truly unique ideas. Four components can help: a big problem that demands fresh thinking, creative principles or paradigms that can reveal new approaches, an evaluation of the conventions that constrain novel thinking, and examples and analogies that help redefine what can be done. No doubt there are existing management processes in your organization that exacerbate the big problems you're hoping to solve. So how can you learn to identify them? Start by asking a series of questions for each one. For instance, Who owns the process? What are its objectives? What are the metrics for success? What are the decision-making criteria? How are decisions communicated, and to whom? After documenting these details, ask the people involved with the process to weigh in. This exploration may reveal opportunities to reinventyour management processes. A management innovation, the author says, creates long-lasting advantage when it meets at least one of three conditions: It is based on a novel principle that challenges the orthodoxy; it is systemic, involving a range of processes and methods; or it is part of a program of invention, where progress compounds over time. So far, management in this century isn't much different from management in the previous one, says Hamel. Therein lies the opportunity. You can wait for a competitor to come upon the next great management process and drive you out of business-or you can become a management innovator right now.

  7. Effects of using the developing nurses' thinking model on nursing students' diagnostic accuracy.

    PubMed

    Tesoro, Mary Gay

    2012-08-01

    This quasi-experimental study tested the effectiveness of an educational model, Developing Nurses' Thinking (DNT), on nursing students' clinical reasoning to achieve patient safety. Teaching nursing students to develop effective thinking habits that promote positive patient outcomes and patient safety is a challenging endeavor. Positive patient outcomes and safety are achieved when nurses accurately interpret data and subsequently implement appropriate plans of care. This study's pretest-posttest design determined whether use of the DNT model during 2 weeks of clinical postconferences improved nursing students' (N = 83) diagnostic accuracy. The DNT model helps students to integrate four constructs-patient safety, domain knowledge, critical thinking processes, and repeated practice-to guide their thinking when interpreting patient data and developing effective plans of care. The posttest scores of students from the intervention group showed statistically significant improvement in accuracy. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

  8. A general neurologist's perspective on the urgent need to apply resilience thinking to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

    PubMed

    Pomorska, Grazyna; Ockene, Judith K

    2017-11-01

    The goal of this article was to look at the problem of Alzheimer's disease (AD) through the lens of a socioecological resilience-thinking framework to help expand our view of the prevention and treatment of AD. This serious and complex public health problem requires a holistic systems approach. We present the view that resilience thinking, a theoretical framework that offers multidisciplinary approaches in ecology and natural resource management to solve environmental problems, can be applied to the prevention and treatment of AD. Resilience thinking explains a natural process that occurs in all complex systems in response to stressful challenges. The brain is a complex system, much like an ecosystem, and AD is a disturbance (allostatic overload) within the ecosystem of the brain. Resilience thinking gives us guidance, direction, and ideas about how to comprehensively prevent and treat AD and tackle the AD epidemic.

  9. Using a kinesthetic learning strategy to engage nursing student thinking, enhance retention, and improve critical thinking.

    PubMed

    Wagner, Elissa A

    2014-06-01

    This article reports the outcomes of a kinesthetic learning strategy used during a cardiac lecture to engage students and to improve the use of classroom-acquired knowledge in today's challenging clinical settings. Nurse educators are constantly faced with finding new ways to engage students, stimulate critical thinking, and improve clinical application in a rapidly changing and complex health care system. Educators who deviate from the traditional pedagogy of didactic, content-driven teaching to a concept-based, student-centered approach using active and kinesthetic learning activities can enhance engagement and improve clinical problem solving, communication skills, and critical thinking to provide graduates with the tools necessary to be successful. The goals of this learning activity were to decrease the well-known classroom-clinical gap by enhancing engagement, providing deeper understanding of cardiac function and disorders, enhancing critical thinking, and improving clinical application. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

  10. Dreaming and immanence: rejecting the dogmatic image of thought in science education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bazzul, Jesse; Wallace, Maria F. G.; Higgins, Marc

    2018-02-01

    In this article, we, a multivocal-thinking-assemblage, trouble what we feel is the dogmatic image of thought in science education. Beginning with Lars Bang's (Cult Stud Sci Educ, 2017) dramatic and disruptive imagery of the Ouroboros as a means to challenge scientific literacy we explore the importance of dreams, thinking with both virtual and actual entities, and immanent thinking to science education scholarship. Dreaming as movement away from a dogmatic image of thought takes the authors in multiple directions as they attempt to open Deleuzian horizons of difference, immanence, and self-exploration.

  11. Developing strategic thinking in senior management.

    PubMed

    Zabriskie, N B; Huellmantel, A B

    1991-12-01

    Chief Executive Officers have recently stated that their greatest staffing challenge for the 1990s is the development of strategic leadership in their senior management. In order to do this, it is necessary to identify the substance of strategic thinking, and the capabilities that must be mastered. Writers on strategy have identified six major elements of strategic thinking and these have been organized to reveal the tasks, questions, decisions, and skills that senior executives must acquire in order to lead their organizations strategically. Finally, the article identifies training programme elements which are used by Directors of Manpower Development to develop strategic leadership ability.

  12. Health information technology: a few years of magical thinking?

    PubMed

    Diamond, Carol C; Shirky, Clay

    2008-01-01

    One of the biggest obstacles to expanding the use of information technology (IT) in health care may be the current narrow focus on how to stimulate its adoption. The challenge of thinking of IT as a tool to improve quality requires serious attention to transforming the U.S. health care system as a whole, rather than simply computerizing the current setup. Proponents of health IT must resist "magical thinking," such as the notion that technology will transform our broken system, absent integrated work on policy or incentives. The alternative route to transforming the system sets all of its sights on the destination.

  13. Exploring creativity and critical thinking in traditional and innovative problem-based learning groups.

    PubMed

    Chan, Zenobia C Y

    2013-08-01

    To explore students' attitude towards problem-based learning, creativity and critical thinking, and the relevance to nursing education and clinical practice. Critical thinking and creativity are crucial in nursing education. The teaching approach of problem-based learning can help to reduce the difficulties of nurturing problem-solving skills. However, there is little in the literature on how to improve the effectiveness of a problem-based learning lesson by designing appropriate and innovative activities such as composing songs, writing poems and using role plays. Exploratory qualitative study. A sample of 100 students participated in seven semi-structured focus groups, of which two were innovative groups and five were standard groups, adopting three activities in problem-based learning, namely composing songs, writing poems and performing role plays. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. There are three themes extracted from the conversations: 'students' perceptions of problem-based learning', 'students' perceptions of creative thinking' and 'students' perceptions of critical thinking'. Participants generally agreed that critical thinking is more important than creativity in problem-based learning and clinical practice. Participants in the innovative groups perceived a significantly closer relationship between critical thinking and nursing care, and between creativity and nursing care than the standard groups. Both standard and innovative groups agreed that problem-based learning could significantly increase their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Further, by composing songs, writing poems and using role plays, the innovative groups had significantly increased their awareness of the relationship among critical thinking, creativity and nursing care. Nursing educators should include more types of creative activities than it often does in conventional problem-based learning classes. The results could help nurse educators design an appropriate curriculum for preparing professional and ethical nurses for future clinical practice. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  14. Teaching for Thinking Today: Theory, Strategies, and Activities for the K-8 Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wassermann, Selma

    2009-01-01

    These are turbulent times. We live in a climate of vigorous testing and memorization, so how can we both engage and challenge our children to learn and become thinking citizens in our society? In her invaluable new book, Selma Wassermann takes a step forward from Louis Rath's seminal work and gives us some truly helpful answers to this modern…

  15. Investigating and analyzing prospective teacher's reflective thinking in solving mathematical problem: A case study of female-field dependent (FD) prospective teacher

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agustan, S.; Juniati, Dwi; Siswono, Tatag Yuli Eko

    2017-05-01

    In the last few years, reflective thinking becomes very popular term in the world of education, especially in professional education of teachers. One of goals of the educational personnel and teacher institutions create responsible prospective teachers and they are able reflective thinking. Reflective thinking is a future competence that should be taught to students to face the challenges and to respond of demands of the 21st century. Reflective thinking can be applied in mathematics becauseby reflective thinking, students can improve theircuriosity to solve mathematical problem. In solving mathematical problem is assumed that cognitive style has an impact on prospective teacher's mental activity. As a consequence, reflective thinking and cognitive style are important things in solving mathematical problem. The subject, in this research paper, isa female-prospective teacher who has fielddependent cognitive style. The purpose of this research paperis to investigate the ability of prospective teachers' reflective thinking in solving mathematical problem. This research paper is a descriptive by using qualitativeapproach. To analyze the data related to prospectiveteacher's reflective thinking in solving contextual mathematicalproblem, the researchers focus in four main categories which describe prospective teacher's activities in using reflective thinking, namely; (a) formulation and synthesis of experience, (b) orderliness of experience, (c) evaluating the experience and (d) testing the selected solution based on the experience.

  16. Big data - a 21st century science Maginot Line? No-boundary thinking: shifting from the big data paradigm.

    PubMed

    Huang, Xiuzhen; Jennings, Steven F; Bruce, Barry; Buchan, Alison; Cai, Liming; Chen, Pengyin; Cramer, Carole L; Guan, Weihua; Hilgert, Uwe Kk; Jiang, Hongmei; Li, Zenglu; McClure, Gail; McMullen, Donald F; Nanduri, Bindu; Perkins, Andy; Rekepalli, Bhanu; Salem, Saeed; Specker, Jennifer; Walker, Karl; Wunsch, Donald; Xiong, Donghai; Zhang, Shuzhong; Zhang, Yu; Zhao, Zhongming; Moore, Jason H

    2015-01-01

    Whether your interests lie in scientific arenas, the corporate world, or in government, you have certainly heard the praises of big data: Big data will give you new insights, allow you to become more efficient, and/or will solve your problems. While big data has had some outstanding successes, many are now beginning to see that it is not the Silver Bullet that it has been touted to be. Here our main concern is the overall impact of big data; the current manifestation of big data is constructing a Maginot Line in science in the 21st century. Big data is not "lots of data" as a phenomena anymore; The big data paradigm is putting the spirit of the Maginot Line into lots of data. Big data overall is disconnecting researchers and science challenges. We propose No-Boundary Thinking (NBT), applying no-boundary thinking in problem defining to address science challenges.

  17. 77 FR 60096 - Adding International Energy Efficiency (IEE) Certificate to List of Certificates a Recognized...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-02

    ... Efficiency IMO International Maritime Organization MARPOL Protocol International Convention for the... rule. On July 15, 2011, in resolution MEPC.203(62), the International Maritime Organization's (IMO... think that your business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and...

  18. Food, Feed, and Fuel: Integrating Energy Double Crops in Conventional Farming Systems

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The increasing demand for renewable energy, coupled with global demand for agricultural products and a range of environmental constraints, requires a re-thinking of current agricultural practices. Growing markets for cellulosic and other biomass feedstocks create new opportunities for farmers to div...

  19. Academetron, Automaton, Phantom: Uncanny Digital Pedagogies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bayne, Sian

    2010-01-01

    This paper explores the possibility of an uncanny digital pedagogy. Drawing on theories of the uncanny from psychoanalysis, cultural studies and educational philosophy, it considers how being online defamiliarises teaching, asking us to question and consider anew established academic practices and conventions. It touches on recent thinking on…

  20. Platonic Symmetry and Geometric Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zsombor-Murray, Paul

    2007-01-01

    Cubic symmetry is used to build the other four Platonic solids and some formalism from classical geometry is introduced. Initially, the approach is via geometric construction, e.g., the "golden ratio" is necessary to construct an icosahedron with pentagonal faces. Then conventional elementary vector algebra is used to extract quantitative…

  1. Difference, Globalisation and the Internationalisation of Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rizvi, Fazal; Walsh, Lucas

    1998-01-01

    As Australian higher education advances, new ways of thinking about the college curriculum need to be developed to meet the changing imperatives of the global environment and address the need for student-centered instruction. Internationalization tends to destabilize conventional frameworks of curriculum design and implementation at local,…

  2. Introducing Restorative Justice: Re-Visioning Responses to Wrongdoing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calhoun, Avery

    2013-01-01

    Learning about restorative justice involves examining conventional thinking about crime (or wrongdoing generally), values in relation to how people associated with wrongdoing are treated, and best responses when a wrongdoing occurs. In this introductory article, the author highlights key developments in the restorative movement and main…

  3. Effects of Discussion Constraints, Discourse Maps, and Interactive Intercultural Elaboration in Online Discussions on Students' Knowledge Construction, Critical Thinking, and Intercultural Sensitivity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Hien Thu

    2009-01-01

    Research shows both benefits and challenges of online discussion as a collaborative learning activity. Online discussion is especially challenging for novice college students who have limited metacognitive skills as well as limited knowledge of the subject domain. With limited metacognitive skills, it can be challenging for novice students to…

  4. Developing geogebra-assisted reciprocal teaching strategy to improve junior high school students’ abstraction ability, lateral thinking and mathematical persistence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Priatna, N.; Martadiputra, B. A. P.; Wibisono, Y.

    2018-05-01

    The development of science and technology requires reform in the utilization of various resources for mathematics teaching and learning process. One of the efforts that can be made is the implementation of GeoGebra-assisted Reciprocal Teaching strategy in mathematics instruction as an effective strategy in improving students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor abilities. This research is intended to implement GeoGebra-assisted Reciprocal Teaching strategy in improving abstraction ability, lateral thinking, and mathematical persistence of junior high school students. It employed quasi-experimental method with non-random pre-test and post-test control design. More specifically, it used the 2x3 factorial design, namely the learning factors that included GeoGebra-assisted Reciprocal Teaching and conventional teaching learning, and levels of early mathematical ability (high, middle, and low). The subjects in this research were the eighth grade students of junior high school, taken with purposive sampling. The results of this research show: Abstraction and lateral abilities of students who were taught with GeoGebra-assisted Reciprocal Teaching strategy were significantly higher than those of students who received conventional learning. Mathematical persistence of students taught with GeoGebra-assisted Reciprocal Teaching strategy was also significantly higher than of those taught with conventional learning.

  5. Current and emerging business models in the health care information technology industry: a view from wall street.

    PubMed

    Frank, Seth

    2003-01-01

    When we think about health care IT, we don't just think about clinical automation with the movement to computerized physician order entry (CPOE), but also the need to upgrade legacy financial and administrative systems to interact with clinical systems. Technology acceptance by physicians remains low, and computer use by physicians for data entry and analysis remains minimal. We expect this trend to change, and expect increased automation to represent gradual change. The HCIT space is dynamic, with many opportunities, but also many challenges. The unique nature of the end market buyers, existing business models, and nature of the technology makes this a challenging but dynamic area for equity investment.

  6. Critical Thinking in Critical Care: Five Strategies to Improve Teaching and Learning in the Intensive Care Unit.

    PubMed

    Hayes, Margaret M; Chatterjee, Souvik; Schwartzstein, Richard M

    2017-04-01

    Critical thinking, the capacity to be deliberate about thinking, is increasingly the focus of undergraduate medical education, but is not commonly addressed in graduate medical education. Without critical thinking, physicians, and particularly residents, are prone to cognitive errors, which can lead to diagnostic errors, especially in a high-stakes environment such as the intensive care unit. Although challenging, critical thinking skills can be taught. At this time, there is a paucity of data to support an educational gold standard for teaching critical thinking, but we believe that five strategies, routed in cognitive theory and our personal teaching experiences, provide an effective framework to teach critical thinking in the intensive care unit. The five strategies are: make the thinking process explicit by helping learners understand that the brain uses two cognitive processes: type 1, an intuitive pattern-recognizing process, and type 2, an analytic process; discuss cognitive biases, such as premature closure, and teach residents to minimize biases by expressing uncertainty and keeping differentials broad; model and teach inductive reasoning by utilizing concept and mechanism maps and explicitly teach how this reasoning differs from the more commonly used hypothetico-deductive reasoning; use questions to stimulate critical thinking: "how" or "why" questions can be used to coach trainees and to uncover their thought processes; and assess and provide feedback on learner's critical thinking. We believe these five strategies provide practical approaches for teaching critical thinking in the intensive care unit.

  7. Critical Thinking in Critical Care: Five Strategies to Improve Teaching and Learning in the Intensive Care Unit

    PubMed Central

    Chatterjee, Souvik; Schwartzstein, Richard M.

    2017-01-01

    Critical thinking, the capacity to be deliberate about thinking, is increasingly the focus of undergraduate medical education, but is not commonly addressed in graduate medical education. Without critical thinking, physicians, and particularly residents, are prone to cognitive errors, which can lead to diagnostic errors, especially in a high-stakes environment such as the intensive care unit. Although challenging, critical thinking skills can be taught. At this time, there is a paucity of data to support an educational gold standard for teaching critical thinking, but we believe that five strategies, routed in cognitive theory and our personal teaching experiences, provide an effective framework to teach critical thinking in the intensive care unit. The five strategies are: make the thinking process explicit by helping learners understand that the brain uses two cognitive processes: type 1, an intuitive pattern-recognizing process, and type 2, an analytic process; discuss cognitive biases, such as premature closure, and teach residents to minimize biases by expressing uncertainty and keeping differentials broad; model and teach inductive reasoning by utilizing concept and mechanism maps and explicitly teach how this reasoning differs from the more commonly used hypothetico-deductive reasoning; use questions to stimulate critical thinking: “how” or “why” questions can be used to coach trainees and to uncover their thought processes; and assess and provide feedback on learner’s critical thinking. We believe these five strategies provide practical approaches for teaching critical thinking in the intensive care unit. PMID:28157389

  8. More than just consumers: Integrating local observations into drought monitoring to better support decision making

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferguson, D. B.; Masayesva, A.; Meadow, A. M.; Crimmins, M.

    2016-12-01

    Drought monitoring and drought planning are complex endeavors. Measures of precipitation or streamflow provide little context for understanding how social and environmental systems impacted by drought are responding. In arid and semi-arid regions of the world, this challenge is particularly acute since social-ecological systems are already well-adapted to dry conditions. Understanding what drought means in these regions is an important first step in developing a decision-relevant monitoring system. Traditional drought indices may be of some use, but local observations may ultimately be more relevant for informing difficult decisions in response to unusually dry conditions. This presentation will focus on insights gained from a collaborative project between the University of Arizona and the Hopi Tribe-a Native American community in the U.S. Southwest-to develop a drought information system that is responsive to local needs. The primary goal of the project was to develop a system that: is based on how drought is experienced by Hopi citizens and resource managers, can incorporate local observations of drought impacts as well as conventional indicators, and brings together local expertise with conventional science-based observations. This kind of drought monitoring system can harnesses as much available information as possible to inform resource managers, political leaders, and citizens about drought conditions, but such a system can also engage these local drought stakeholders in observing, thinking about, and helping guide planning for drought.

  9. Herbs in dentistry.

    PubMed

    Taheri, Jamile B; Azimi, Somayyeh; Rafieian, Nasrin; Zanjani, Hosein Akhavan

    2011-12-01

    Herbs have been used for centuries to prevent and control disease. Herbal extracts are effective because they interact with specific chemical receptors within the body and are in a pharmacodynamic sense, drugs themselves. By using herbal medicines, patients have averted the many side effects that generally come with traditional medicines, but this does not mean that side effects do not occur. Only knowledgeable practitioners can prescribe the right herb and its proper dosage. Herbal medicines had been considered in every culture, however, pharmaceutical companies overturned this type of thinking. Now, pharmaceuticals are called traditional and herbs are libeled as the 'alternative'. The biggest challenge and problem is lack of information about the effect of herbs in oral tissues, mechanism of effect, and side effects. Several popular conventional drugs on the market are derived from herbs. These include aspirin (from white willow bark), digitalis (from foxglove), and sudafed (modelled after a component in the plant ephedra). Herbal products can vary in their potency. Therefore, care must be taken in selecting herbs, even so, herbal medicines have dramatically fewer side effects and are safer to use than conventional medications. The herbs described in this article are Bloodroot, Caraway, Chamomile, Echinacea, Myrrh, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Aloe Vera, Propolis, and a summary of other herbs that are useful in dentistry. Herbs may be good alternatives to current treatments for oral health problems but it is clear that we need more research. © 2011 FDI World Dental Federation.

  10. Sustainable development goals for global health: facilitating good governance in a complex environment.

    PubMed

    Haffeld, Just

    2013-11-01

    Increasing complexity is following in the wake of rampant globalization. Thus, the discussion about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires new thinking that departs from a critique of current policy tools in exploration of a complexity-friendly approach. This article argues that potential SDGs should: treat stakeholders, like states, business and civil society actors, as agents on different aggregate levels of networks; incorporate good governance processes that facilitate early involvement of relevant resources, as well as equitable participation, consultative processes, and regular policy and programme implementation reviews; anchor adoption and enforcement of such rules to democratic processes in accountable organizations; and include comprehensive systems evaluations, including procedural indicators. A global framework convention for health could be a suitable instrument for handling some of the challenges related to the governance of a complex environment. It could structure and legitimize government involvement, engage stakeholders, arrange deliberation and decision-making processes with due participation and regular policy review, and define minimum standards for health services. A monitoring scheme could ensure that agents in networks comply according to whole-systems targets, locally defined outcome indicators, and process indicators, thus resolving the paradox of government control vs. local policy space. A convention could thus exploit the energy created in the encounter between civil society, international organizations and national authorities. Copyright © 2013 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Clinical concept mapping: Does it improve discipline-based critical thinking of nursing students?

    PubMed

    Moattari, Marzieh; Soleimani, Sara; Moghaddam, Neda Jamali; Mehbodi, Farkhondeh

    2014-01-01

    Enhancing nursing students' critical thinking is a challenge faced by nurse educators. This study aimed at determining the effect of clinical concept mapping on discipline-based critical thinking of nursing students. In this quasi-experimental post-test only design, a convenient sample of 4(th) year nursing students (N = 32) participated. They were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group participated in a 1-day workshop on clinical concept mapping. They were also assigned to use at least two clinical concepts mapping during their clinical practice. Post-test was done using a specially designed package consisting of vignettes for measurement of 17 dimensions of critical thinking in nursing under two categories of cognitive critical thinking skills and habits of mind. They were required to write about how they would use a designated critical thinking skills or habits of mind to accomplish the nursing actions. The students' responses were evaluated based on identification of critical thinking, justification, and quality of the student's response. The mean score of both groups was compared by Mann-Whitney test using SPSS version 16.5. The results of the study revealed a significant difference between the two groups' critical thinking regarding identification, justification, and quality of responses, and overall critical thinking scores, cognitive thinking skills, and habits of mind. The two groups also differed significantly from each other in 11 out of 17 dimensions of critical thinking. Clinical concept mapping is a valuable strategy for improvement of critical thinking of nursing students. However, further studies are recommended to generalize this result to nursing students in their earlier stage of education.

  12. Perceived Challenges in Primary Literature in a Master’s Class: Effects of Experience and Instruction

    PubMed Central

    Lie, Richard; Abdullah, Christopher; He, Wenliang; Tour, Ella

    2016-01-01

    Primary literature offers rich opportunities to teach students how to “think like a scientist,” but the challenges students face when they attempt to read research articles are not well understood. Here, we present an analysis of what master’s students perceive as the most challenging aspects of engaging with primary literature. We examined 69 pairs of pre- and postcourse responses from students enrolled in a master’s-level course that offered a structured analysis of primary literature. On the basis of these responses, we identified six categories of challenges. Before instruction, “techniques” and “experimental data” were the most frequently identified categories of challenges. The majority of difficulties students perceived in the primary literature corresponded to Bloom’s lower-order cognitive skills. After instruction, “conclusions” were identified as the most difficult aspect of primary literature, and the frequency of challenges that corresponded to higher-order cognitive skills increased significantly among students who reported less experience with primary literature. These changes are consistent with a more competent perception of the primary literature, in which these students increasingly focus on challenges requiring critical thinking. Students’ difficulties identified here can inform the design of instructional approaches aimed to teach students how to critically read scientific papers. PMID:27909027

  13. Curious Hybrids: Creating "Not-Quite" Beings to Explore Possible Childhoods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, Linda

    2016-01-01

    Communications between adults and young children can expose different ideas and opinions. Adults and children have different capacities to speak, these discursive spaces can become filled with assumptions, stereotyping and conventional thinking about power and agency. If communication shifts away from the purely discursive, what might be exposed…

  14. Disaggregating Assessment to Close the Loop and Improve Student Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rawls, Janita; Hammons, Stacy

    2015-01-01

    This study examined student learning outcomes for accelerated degree students as compared to conventional undergraduate students, disaggregated by class levels, to develop strategies for then closing the loop with assessment. Using the National Survey of Student Engagement, critical thinking and oral and written communication outcomes were…

  15. Decision Analysis Using Value-Focused Thinking to Select Renewable Alternative Fuels

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-03-01

    39 3-9. Ground or Water Contaminant SDVF ................................................................42 3-10. Particulate...13. Ground or Water Contaminant SDVF ................................................................91 A-14. Renewable/Alternative SDVF...conventional fuels and other alternative fuels. Under optimal conditions, hydrogen would be produced from the electrolysis of water (Bechtold, 1997:32

  16. Cyberbullying: A TAFE Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reeckman, Barbara; Cannard, Laine

    2009-01-01

    TAFE discipline procedures only apply to cyberbullying events that occur on campus, but this study found that some online incidents occurring off campus affect young people's experience of TAFE and students wanted staff to deal with them. Unlike conventional bullying, it appears that young people think cyberbullying shouldn't be defined by…

  17. Writing for Change: Engaging Juveniles through Alternative Literacy Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobi, Tobi

    2008-01-01

    Research on incarceration and educational access continues to reveal the stark reality for many adjudicated youth: without access to educational opportunities recidivism is probable. Yet conventional methods of teaching critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are not always successful for juveniles who have found little success (or hope) in…

  18. Learning and Innovation Competence in Agricultural and Rural Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pant, Laxmi Prasad

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The fields of competence development and capacity development remain isolated in the scholarship of learning and innovation despite the contemporary focus on innovation systems thinking in agricultural and rural development. This article aims to address whether and how crossing the conventional boundaries of these two fields provide new…

  19. Monetary Policy after August 2007

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gertler, Mark

    2013-01-01

    In this article, the author describes conceptually how to think about the dramatic changes in monetary policy since the sub-prime crisis of August 2007. He also discusses how to incorporate these changes and related economic concepts in the teaching of an undergraduate class in macroeconomics. A distinction is made between conventional and…

  20. THE DRAMATIC MODE. LITERATURE CURRICULUM V, TEACHER VERSION.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    KITZHABER, ALBERT R.

    DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE NARRATIVE AND DRAMATIC MODES CAN BEST BE UNDERSTOOD BY EMPHASIZING WHAT IT MEANS TO THINK AND CREATE DRAMATICALLY. ALTHOUGH BOOKS (WHICH ARE READ) AND PLAYS (WHICH ARE SEEN) TREAT PLOT, CHARACTER, AND SETTING SIMILARLY, CONVENTIONS THAT PARTICULARLY DISTINGUISH THEATRICAL FORM ARE--(1) THE AUTHENTICATING REALITY OF THE…

  1. Long-Term Trends Accentuate the Import of Creative and Critical Thinking Skills Developed by Design Thinking and Ill-Defined Questions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peters, Robert A.; Maatman, Janice

    2017-01-01

    The economic, financial, and political trends such as stagnating standards of living, fiscal pressure, and an escalating mistrust of government were set in motion during the 1960s and 1970s. Due to the duration of the trends, the magnitude, but not the nature, of the challenges confronting the health care, nonprofit and public sectors has changed.…

  2. Nurses and nurse assistants' experiences with using a design thinking approach to innovation in a nursing home.

    PubMed

    Eines, Trude Fløystad; Vatne, Solfrid

    2018-05-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate nurses' and nurse assistants' experiences with a design thinking approach to innovation used in a nursing home in Norway. A design thinking approach to innovation that focuses on users' needs can be employed to address many of the challenges facing health care providers in a field facing a growing ageing population, complex diseases and financial shortfalls. This study is based on a thematic analysis of four focus group interviews with nurses and nurse assistants (n = 23). In the initial phase of developing the new service model, which included defining staff roles and responsibilities, participating nurses and nurse assistants felt engaged and motivated by the designers' inclusive and creative methods. However, during the new model's testing phase, they were critical of management's lack of involvement in the model`s implementation and therefore became less motivated about the project. The findings of the study highlight the importance of the designers cooperating with management and staff for the duration of the innovation process. Challenging innovation processes require strong managers who engage with designers, patients, staff and volunteers throughout all phases of an innovation process using a design thinking approach. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Imagined Community of Education: Voices from Refugees and Immigrants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    He, Ye; Bettez, Silvia Cristina; Levin, Barbara B.

    2017-01-01

    To challenge deficit thinking concerning immigrants and refugees in urban schools, we engaged members of local immigrant and refugee communities from China, Mexico, Liberia, and Sudan in focus group discussions about their prior educational experiences, their hopes and aspirations for education, and the supports and challenges they encountered in…

  4. Educator Perspectives on Earth System Science Literacy: Challenges and Priorities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LaDue, Nicole; Clark, Scott K.

    2012-01-01

    The challenges and priorities of defining and achieving Earth System Science (ESS) literacy are examined through surveys of geoscience educators attending a professional geological meeting. Two surveys with Likert-style and free-response questions were distributed to geoscientists and K-12 teachers to elicit what instructors think are important…

  5. Online Instructors as Thinking Advisors: A Model for Online Learner Adaptation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benedetti, Christopher

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the characteristics and challenges of online instruction and presents a model for improving learner adaptation in an online classroom. Instruction in an online classroom presents many challenges, including learner individualization. Individual differences in learning styles and preferences are often not considered in the…

  6. Institutional Potential for Online Learning: A Hong Kong Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donoghue, Sue L.

    2006-01-01

    Hong Kong's tertiary education environment has changed dramatically in recent years with universities now facing specific educational challenges in the areas of critical thinking, "life-long learning" and English language. The question exists as to what pedagogic developments will best allow the universities to address these challenges.…

  7. Twenty-first Century Ethical Challenges for Psychology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koocher, Gerald P.

    2007-01-01

    Foreseeable social and technological changes will force us to reevaluate our thinking about ethically appropriate ways to fulfill our mission of using psychology to advance human health and welfare in the twenty-first century. Three categories of challenge related to societal and technological changes have become particularly evident. First,…

  8. English Language Learning and Leadership: Putting It All Together

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lundquist, Anne M.; Hill, Jane

    2009-01-01

    As the student population becomes increasingly linguistically diverse, educators are faced with the challenge of providing academically rigorous instruction to ELLs. Because this requires teachers to adopt new strategies that challenge learners to think at higher levels; it will subsequently require leaders to intentionally address all aspects of…

  9. Challenge of Effective Technology Integration into Teaching and Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramorola, M. Z.

    2013-01-01

    South African teachers are faced with challenges in integrating technology effectively into a coherent framework at school level. There seems to be little evidence of technology integration into classroom activities such as systematic planning and implementation of lessons that require learners to think critically, work collaboratively, and use…

  10. Contextual Influences on Faculty Diversity Conceptualizations when Working with Trainee Competence Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shen-Miller, David S.; Forrest, Linda; Burt, Michelle

    2012-01-01

    Trainees with problems of professional competence (TPPC) present trainers with unique challenges. When TPPC situations include diversity issues, the complexity of such challenges increases. Although attention to such intersections is important, little is known about what influences faculty thinking about diversity issues when trainee competence…

  11. Singapore Math: Challenging and Relevant Curriculum for the Gifted Learner

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hazelton, Melody; Brearley, Donna

    2008-01-01

    Teachers know their students must struggle and grapple with authentic tasks in order to grow stronger. Classroom teachers of the gifted know that their students cannot advance cognitively without facing relevant and challenging material that demands higher level thinking and reasoning. Therefore, the teacher of gifted mathematics students must…

  12. Science, Sport and Technology--A Contribution to Educational Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Hara, Kelly; Reis, Paula; Esteves, Dulce; Bras, Rui; Branco, Luisa

    2011-01-01

    Improve students' ability to link knowledge with real life practice, through enhancing children or teenagers' ability to think critically by way of making observations, posing questions, drawing up hypotheses, planning and carrying out investigations, analysing data and therefore improve their decision making is an educational challenge. Learning…

  13. The Challenges of Educational Leadership: Values in a Globalized Age

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bottery, Mike

    2004-01-01

    This new series focuses predominantly upon the relationship between leadership and learning. It also provides new and alternative perspectives on leadership which offer a direct challenge to the current orthodoxies of school leadership that persist, prevail and still dominate contemporary thinking. This book by Mike Bottery trail blazes the…

  14. The Young Military Child: Our Modern Telemachus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cozza, Stephen J.; Lieberman, Alicia F.

    2007-01-01

    For thousands of years military children have been faced with many challenges that result from the combat deployment of their parents. These challenges are likely to be particularly burdensome to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers because of their emotional and cognitive immaturity, their reliance on magical thinking, and their dependence upon…

  15. The Wisdom of Tacit Knowing-in-Action and Mission Command

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moilanen, Jon H.

    2015-01-01

    Adult learners regularly confront complex and dynamic challenges in moments of crisis that require self-efficacy of intuition and immediate decision. Such "snap decision-making" requires highly developed critical thinking skills to effectively operate in the midst of chaos. This decisiveness is particularly challenging in the military…

  16. Why We Need a European Vision

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ravenhall, Mark

    2012-01-01

    All the countries of the United Kingdom have something to learn from nations facing comparable challenges elsewhere in Europe. Seeing these challenges through a European lens can help these countries understand them and their selves better. The author thinks they need to join in solidarity with adult educators across Europe and, indeed, further…

  17. Validation of a scenario-based assessment of critical thinking using an externally validated tool.

    PubMed

    Buur, Jennifer L; Schmidt, Peggy; Smylie, Dean; Irizarry, Kris; Crocker, Carlos; Tyler, John; Barr, Margaret

    2012-01-01

    With medical education transitioning from knowledge-based curricula to competency-based curricula, critical thinking skills have emerged as a major competency. While there are validated external instruments for assessing critical thinking, many educators have created their own custom assessments of critical thinking. However, the face validity of these assessments has not been challenged. The purpose of this study was to compare results from a custom assessment of critical thinking with the results from a validated external instrument of critical thinking. Students from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences were administered a custom assessment of critical thinking (ACT) examination and the externally validated instrument, California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), in the spring of 2011. Total scores and sub-scores from each exam were analyzed for significant correlations using Pearson correlation coefficients. Significant correlations between ACT Blooms 2 and deductive reasoning and total ACT score and deductive reasoning were demonstrated with correlation coefficients of 0.24 and 0.22, respectively. No other statistically significant correlations were found. The lack of significant correlation between the two examinations illustrates the need in medical education to externally validate internal custom assessments. Ultimately, the development and validation of custom assessments of non-knowledge-based competencies will produce higher quality medical professionals.

  18. 15 CFR 717.1 - Clarification procedures; challenge inspection requests pursuant to Article IX of the Convention.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... COMMERCE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION REGULATIONS CWC CLARIFICATION PROCEDURES (CONSULTATIONS AND CHALLENGE... through consultation between themselves or through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). A State Party may also request the OPCW to conduct an on-site challenge inspection of any...

  19. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    Think. Make. Innovate. A festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness that gathers makers of all kinds. Scientists are seeking to find innovative solutions to the energy challenges in the world.

  20. TGT for chemistry learning to enhance students' achievement and critical thinking skills

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bolhassan, Norlailatulakma; Taha, Hafsah

    2017-05-01

    The form of cooperative learning known as Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT) in this study favors the use of teams work and learning tools combined with student play and practice to foster students' achievement and critical thinking skills. Using this paradigm, this study incorporates Teams-Games-Tournament and Flash Cards Games Kit during an 8-weeks experimental instruction period that includes 67 Form Four students; 34 students in the experimental group and 33 in the control group. The learning design in experimental group emphasizes scaffolding, guided practices, cooperative learning, and active participation in learning. While the experimental group experienced the TGT approach, the control group encountered the conventional teaching approach of chemistry drills. An achievement chemistry test and Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) were used for the pretest and posttest. The finding indicates that TGT learning was more effective than drills in promoting chemistry performance, and the playful competiveness among students promotes students' critical thinking. In addition, TGT cooperative learning also creates an active learning environment in solving problems and discussions among students and teachers.

  1. A conversation-based process tracing method for use with naturalistic decisions: an evaluation study.

    PubMed

    Williamson, J; Ranyard, R; Cuthbert, L

    2000-05-01

    This study is an evaluation of a process tracing method developed for naturalistic decisions, in this case a consumer choice task. The method is based on Huber et al.'s (1997) Active Information Search (AIS) technique, but develops it by providing spoken rather than written answers to respondents' questions, and by including think aloud instructions. The technique is used within a conversation-based situation, rather than the respondent thinking aloud 'into an empty space', as is conventionally the case in think aloud techniques. The method results in a concurrent verbal protocol as respondents make their decisions, and a retrospective report in the form of a post-decision summary. The method was found to be virtually non-reactive in relation to think aloud, although the variable of Preliminary Attribute Elicitation showed some evidence of reactivity. This was a methodological evaluation, and as such the data reported are essentially descriptive. Nevertheless, the data obtained indicate that the method is capable of producing information about decision processes which could have theoretical importance in terms of evaluating models of decision-making.

  2. Profile of male-field dependent (FD) prospective teacher's reflective thinking in solving contextual mathematical problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agustan, S.; Juniati, Dwi; Siswono, Tatag Yuli Eko

    2017-08-01

    Reflective thinking is an important component in the world of education, especially in professional education of teachers. In learning mathematics, reflective thinking is one way to solve mathematical problem because it can improve student's curiosity when student faces a mathematical problem. Reflective thinking is also a future competence that should be taught to students to face the challenges and to respond of demands of the 21st century. There are many factors which give impact toward the student's reflective thinking when student solves mathematical problem. One of them is cognitive style. For this reason, reflective thinking and cognitive style are important things in solving contextual mathematical problem. This research paper describes aspect of reflective thinking in solving contextual mathematical problem involved solution by using some mathematical concept, namely linear program, algebra arithmetic operation, and linear equations of two variables. The participant, in this research paper, is a male-prospective teacher who has Field Dependent. The purpose of this paper is to describe aspect of prospective teachers' reflective thinking in solving contextual mathematical problem. This research paper is a descriptive by using qualitative approach. To analyze the data, the researchers focus in four main categories which describe prospective teacher's activities using reflective thinking, namely; (a) formulation and synthesis of experience, (b) orderliness of experience, (c) evaluating the experience and (d) testing the selected solution based on the experience.

  3. Biological challenges to effective vaccines in the developing world

    PubMed Central

    Grassly, Nicholas C.; Kang, Gagandeep; Kampmann, Beate

    2015-01-01

    The reason for holding a meeting to discuss biological challenges to vaccines is simple: not all vaccines work equally well in all settings. This special issue reviews the performance of vaccines in challenging environments, summarizes current thinking on the reasons why vaccines underperform and considers what approaches are necessary to understand the heterogeneity in responses and to improve vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy. PMID:25964451

  4. Student Reflections on Learning with Challenging Tasks: "I Think the Worksheets Were Just for Practice, and the Challenges Were for Maths"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Russo, James; Hopkins, Sarah

    2017-01-01

    The current study considered young students' (7 and 8 years old) experiences and perceptions of mathematics lessons involving challenging (i.e. cognitively demanding) tasks. We used the Constant Comparative Method to analyse the interview responses (n = 73) regarding what work artefacts students were most proud of creating and why. Five themes…

  5. Insights in Public Health

    PubMed Central

    Canyon, Deon V

    2013-01-01

    The strengthening of health systems is fundamental to improving health outcomes, crisis preparedness, and our capacity to meet global challenges, such as accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, reducing maternal and child mortality, combating HIV, malaria and other diseases, limiting the effects of a new influenza pandemic, and responding appropriately to climate change. To meet these complex needs, the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health, the World Health Organization, and the Institute of Medicine promote systems thinking as the only sensible means to respond to issues that greatly exceed the normal capacity of health and medical services. This paper agrees with the application of systems thinking but argues that health organizations have misunderstood and misapplied systems thinking to the extent that the term has become meaningless. This paper presents the basic constructs of systems thinking, explains why systems thinking has been misapplied, examines some misapplications of systems thinking in health, and suggests how the concept can be applied correctly to medicine and public health to achieve the reason it was adopted in the first place. PMID:24377080

  6. Integrating critical thinking and evidence-based dentistry across a four-year dental curriculum: a model for independent learning.

    PubMed

    Marshall, Teresa A; Straub-Morarend, Cheryl L; Handoo, Nidhi; Solow, Catherine M; Cunningham-Ford, Marsha A; Finkelstein, Michael W

    2014-03-01

    Introducing critical thinking and evidence-based dentistry (EBD) content into an established dental curriculum can be a difficult and challenging process. Over the past three years, the University of Iowa College of Dentistry has developed and implemented a progressive four-year integrated critical thinking and EBD curriculum. The objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation process to make it available as a model for other dental schools contemplating introduction of critical thinking and EBD into their curricula. The newly designed curriculum built upon an existing problem-based learning foundation, which introduces critical thinking and the scientific literature in the D1 year, in order to expose students to the rationale and resources for practicing EBD in the D2 and D3 years and provide opportunities to practice critical thinking and apply the EBD five-step process in the D2, D3, and D4 years. All curricular content is online, and D3 and D4 EBD activities are integrated within existing clinical responsibilities. The curricular content, student resources, and student activities are described.

  7. Preceptor questioning and student critical thinking.

    PubMed

    Myrick, Florence; Yonge, Olive

    2002-01-01

    Questioning is fundamental to student learning. Not only does it enable students to elevate their level of thinking, but in the process it also affords them the opportunity to deal with their world intelligently. The practice setting is an environment rich in opportunity for enabling critical thinking through the use of questioning. In the preceptorship experience, preceptors are in a prime position to use questioning behaviors that can challenge the way preceptees think, encourage them to justify or clarify their assertions, promote the generation of original ideas, explanations, or solutions to patient problems, provide mental and emotional tools to help resolve dilemmas, promote discussion, and evaluate learning. This article discusses the importance of preceptor questioning for the development and promotion of student critical thinking. Contextually, the authors draw on the findings of a recent study in which preceptor questioning of the knowledge base, decision making, and actions of the preceptee were found to directly bring about or trigger their critical thinking. This article allows for some further reflection on that process and its contribution to the enhancement of the preceptorship experience. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

  8. A graduate education framework for tropical conservation and development.

    PubMed

    Kainer, Karen A; Schmink, Marianne; Covert, Hannah; Stepp, John Richard; Bruna, Emilio M; Dain, Jonathan L; Espinosa, Santiago; Humphries, Shoana

    2006-02-01

    Conventional graduate training related to tropical conservation and development has typically separated the two fields, with students focusing on either conservation from the perspective of the biophysical sciences or development as an extension of the social sciences. On entering the workforce, however graduates find they are required to work beyond disciplinary boundaries to address the complex interconnectivity between biological conservation and human well-being. We devised a framework for graduate education that broadens students' skill sets to learn outside their immediate disciplines and think in terms of linked socioecological systems, work in teams, communicate in nonacademic formats, and reflect critically on their own perspectives and actions. The University of Florida's Tropical Conservation and Development program has adopted a learning and action platform that blends theory, skills, and praxis to create an intellectual, social, and professionally safe space where students, faculty, and other participants can creatively address the complex challenges of tropical conservation and development. This platform operates within a nondegree-granting program and includes core courses that are taught by a team of biophysical and social scientists. It incorporates a range of alternative learning spaces such as student-led workshops, retreats, visiting professionals, practitioner experiences, and a weekly student-led seminar that collectively encourage students and faculty to enhance their skills and systematically and thoroughly reflect on program activities. Challenges to the described approach include increased service demands on faculty, a redefinition of research excellence to include effective and equitable collaboration with host-country partners, and the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in more collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Despite these challenges, growing interdisciplinary programs, coupled with adaptive educational approaches that emphasize learning and action networks of students, faculty, and field partners, provide the best hope for responding to the emerging challenges of tropical conservation and development.

  9. Verbal creativity and schizotypal personality in relation to prefrontal hemispheric laterality: A behavioral and near-infrared optical imaging study

    PubMed Central

    Folley, Bradley S.; Park, Sohee

    2009-01-01

    Although anecdotal and correlational results have suggested a reliable relationship between creativity and psychosis, few studies have examined this relationship using empirical methods. In addition, little is known about the neural substrates of creative thinking. We investigated the creative thinking process in relation to schizotypal personality, schizophrenia and prefrontal hemispheric laterality using behavioral and near-infrared optical spectroscopy (NIRS) methods. Schizophrenic, psychometrically ascertained schizotypal, and healthy control subjects (all right-handed) participated in a novel “alternate uses” task designed to assess divergent thinking (DT) ability. The DT task required subjects to generate “uses” for conventional and ambiguous objects. Prefrontal activity was measured using NIRS while subjects were engaged in DT vs. a cognitive control task in a subset of the subjects. Behavioral data indicated that schizotypes had enhanced DT ability compared with schizophrenic and control subjects, who showed similar performance overall. NIRS data showed that DT was associated with bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, but the right PFC particularly contributed to the enhanced creative thinking in psychometric schizotypes compared with the other two groups. Thus, creative thinking seems to robustly recruit bilateral PFC, but it is the right PFC that is preferentially activated in schizotypes in relation to their enhanced DT. PMID:16125369

  10. The Successes and Challenges of Dialogic Pedagogy in Critical Multicultural Education for Pre-Service Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abd Elkader, Nermine Medhat

    2013-01-01

    This research study investigates the challenges and opportunities of dialogic pedagogy in multicultural education within a conventional higher education institution. The study findings suggest that in spite of the several challenges that dialogic pedagogy faced in the context of conventional education, dialogic pedagogy also experienced several…

  11. Think Locally, Act Globally! Linking Local and Global Communities through Democracy and Environment. Hands-On! Developing Active Learning Modules on the Human Dimensions of Global Change.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dowler, Lorraine

    Designed so that it can be adapted to a wide range of student abilities and institutional settings, this learning module on the human dimensions of global change seeks to: actively engage students in problem solving, challenge them to think critically, invite them to participate in the process of scientific inquiry, and involve them in cooperative…

  12. Military Review. Volume 89, Number 5, September-October 2009

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-01

    to scrutinize paradigms, systemic thinking , and promotion of team learning .36 The principal challenge of innovation is to identify a problem and...and cognitive abilities of the students in a professionally facilitated forum. Virtual knowledge management forums do the same but on an Army-wide... think they need to truly and could file from the middle of properly inform the Ameri­ an artillery duel in Tuzla by can public. And there are a

  13. "Thinking like a Neuroscientist": Using Scaffolded Grant Proposals to Foster Scientific Thinking in a Freshman Neuroscience Course.

    PubMed

    Köver, Hania; Wirt, Stacey E; Owens, Melinda T; Dosmann, Andrew J

    2014-01-01

    Learning and practicing scientific inquiry is an essential component of a STEM education, but it is often difficult to teach to novices or those outside of a laboratory setting. To promote scientific thinking in a freshmen introductory neuroscience course without a lab component, we developed a series of learning activities and assignments designed to foster scientific thinking through the use of scientific grant proposals. Students wrote three short grant proposals on topics ranging from molecular to cognitive neuroscience during a 10-week class (one quarter). We made this challenging and advanced task feasible for novice learners through extensive instructional scaffolding, opportunity for practice, and frequent peer and instructor feedback. Student and instructor reports indicate that the assignments were highly intellectually engaging and that they promoted critical thinking, a deeper understanding of neuroscience material, and effective written communication skills. Here we outline the mechanics of the assignment, student and instructor impressions of learning outcomes, and the advantages and disadvantages of implementing this approach.

  14. “Thinking like a Neuroscientist”: Using Scaffolded Grant Proposals to Foster Scientific Thinking in a Freshman Neuroscience Course

    PubMed Central

    Köver, Hania; Wirt, Stacey E.; Owens, Melinda T.; Dosmann, Andrew J.

    2014-01-01

    Learning and practicing scientific inquiry is an essential component of a STEM education, but it is often difficult to teach to novices or those outside of a laboratory setting. To promote scientific thinking in a freshmen introductory neuroscience course without a lab component, we developed a series of learning activities and assignments designed to foster scientific thinking through the use of scientific grant proposals. Students wrote three short grant proposals on topics ranging from molecular to cognitive neuroscience during a 10-week class (one quarter). We made this challenging and advanced task feasible for novice learners through extensive instructional scaffolding, opportunity for practice, and frequent peer and instructor feedback. Student and instructor reports indicate that the assignments were highly intellectually engaging and that they promoted critical thinking, a deeper understanding of neuroscience material, and effective written communication skills. Here we outline the mechanics of the assignment, student and instructor impressions of learning outcomes, and the advantages and disadvantages of implementing this approach. PMID:25565917

  15. Clinical concept mapping: Does it improve discipline-based critical thinking of nursing students?

    PubMed Central

    Moattari, Marzieh; Soleimani, Sara; Moghaddam, Neda Jamali; Mehbodi, Farkhondeh

    2014-01-01

    Background: Enhancing nursing students’ critical thinking is a challenge faced by nurse educators. This study aimed at determining the effect of clinical concept mapping on discipline-based critical thinking of nursing students. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental post-test only design, a convenient sample of 4th year nursing students (N = 32) participated. They were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group participated in a 1-day workshop on clinical concept mapping. They were also assigned to use at least two clinical concepts mapping during their clinical practice. Post-test was done using a specially designed package consisting of vignettes for measurement of 17 dimensions of critical thinking in nursing under two categories of cognitive critical thinking skills and habits of mind. They were required to write about how they would use a designated critical thinking skills or habits of mind to accomplish the nursing actions. The students’ responses were evaluated based on identification of critical thinking, justification, and quality of the student's response. The mean score of both groups was compared by Mann-Whitney test using SPSS version 16.5. Results: The results of the study revealed a significant difference between the two groups’ critical thinking regarding identification, justification, and quality of responses, and overall critical thinking scores, cognitive thinking skills, and habits of mind. The two groups also differed significantly from each other in 11 out of 17 dimensions of critical thinking. Conclusion: Clinical concept mapping is a valuable strategy for improvement of critical thinking of nursing students. However, further studies are recommended to generalize this result to nursing students in their earlier stage of education. PMID:24554963

  16. Using Behavior Over Time Graphs to Spur Systems Thinking Among Public Health Practitioners.

    PubMed

    Calancie, Larissa; Anderson, Seri; Branscomb, Jane; Apostolico, Alexsandra A; Lich, Kristen Hassmiller

    2018-02-01

    Public health practitioners can use Behavior Over Time (BOT) graphs to spur discussion and systems thinking around complex challenges. Multiple large systems, such as health care, the economy, and education, affect chronic disease rates in the United States. System thinking tools can build public health practitioners' capacity to understand these systems and collaborate within and across sectors to improve population health. BOT graphs show a variable, or variables (y axis) over time (x axis). Although analyzing trends is not new to public health, drawing BOT graphs, annotating the events and systemic forces that are likely to influence the depicted trends, and then discussing the graphs in a diverse group provides an opportunity for public health practitioners to hear each other's perspectives and creates a more holistic understanding of the key factors that contribute to a trend. We describe how BOT graphs are used in public health, how they can be used to generate group discussion, and how this process can advance systems-level thinking. Then we describe how BOT graphs were used with groups of maternal and child health (MCH) practitioners and partners (N = 101) during a training session to advance their thinking about MCH challenges. Eighty-six percent of the 84 participants who completed an evaluation agreed or strongly agreed that they would use this BOT graph process to engage stakeholders in their home states and jurisdictions. The BOT graph process we describe can be applied to a variety of public health issues and used by practitioners, stakeholders, and researchers.

  17. Development of Critical Thinking Skills through Writing Tasks: Challenges Facing Maritime English Students at Aqaba College, AlBalqa Applied University, Jordan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alidmat, Ali Odeh Hammoud; Ayassrah, Mohamed Ayed

    2017-01-01

    Teaching English for Special Purposes (ESP) in a context where English is taught as a Foreign Language (EFL) is no easy task. There is in fact extensive research reporting on challenges facing both teacher and student in the Foreign Language classroom where language skills must be learnt outside their usual context. Even more challenging is…

  18. The Electric Power Exhibit Challenge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roman, Harry T.

    2012-01-01

    A design challenge is all about planning first and understanding the problem before diving in and looking frantically for a solution. Any experienced engineer or designer will tell one to think first and plan the steps before acting. An experienced carpenter friend of the author always said to "take many measurements and cut once." There is great…

  19. Promises & Challenges. Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Multimedia in Education & Industry (2nd, Savannah, Georgia, July 29-31, 1993).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Association for Applied Interactive Multimedia, Columbia, SC.

    This proceedings of the Association for Applied Interactive Multimedia 1993 conference includes the following papers: "Multimedia in Education and Training: 'Promises and Challenges'" (H. D. Ellis); "Critical Thinking in the Multimedia, Self-Paced English Classroom" (L. Mortensen); "Computer Assisted Instruction" (C.…

  20. The Effects of Teacher Discourse on Students' Discourse, Problem-Solving and Reasoning during Cooperative Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillies, Robyn M.; Khan, Asaduzzaman

    2008-01-01

    The study sought to determine if teachers who are taught specific communication skills designed to challenge students' cognitive and metacognitive thinking during cooperative learning use more challenging and scaffolding behaviours to mediate students' learning than teachers who implement cooperative learning or small-group work who have not been…

  1. An Evolutionary Approach to Harnessing Complex Systems Thinking in the Science and Technology Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yoon, Susan A.

    2008-01-01

    Educational efforts to incorporate ethical decision-making in science classrooms about current science and technology issues have met with great challenges. Some research suggests that the inherent complexity in both the subject matter content and the structure and dynamics of classrooms contribute to this challenge. This study seeks to…

  2. Re-Thinking Support: The Hidden School-to-Work Challenges for Individuals with Special Needs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nag, Sonali

    2011-01-01

    This paper examines the hidden challenges experienced by individuals with special needs during the transition years between school and work. An assessment framework is proposed that covers domains of difficulties, developmental tasks during the transition years, the matrix of support within the home-community-institutions ecosystems, and the…

  3. Empowering Young Black Males

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kafele, Baruti K.

    2012-01-01

    Of all the challenges we face in education today, the author can think of none greater than the challenge of motivating, educating, and empowering black male learners. The fact that this group of students is in crisis is evident on multiple levels, starting with graduation rates. According to the Schott Foundation (2008), the U.S. high school…

  4. Reading Desire: From Empathy to Estrangement, from Enlightenment to Implication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Lisa K.

    2007-01-01

    The imperial hubris, insecurities and indifference of our bloody new millennium pose profound challenges to feminist anti-racist and anti-colonial educators. For those of us who turn to literature education to create spaces of sustained moral reflection, there is a particular challenge to think through the kinds of reading practices which might…

  5. Towards a Clearer Understanding of Student Disadvantage in Higher Education: Problematising Deficit Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smit, Renee

    2012-01-01

    The increased diversity in the student body resulting from massification poses particular challenges to higher education. This article engages the uncritical use of the "disadvantage" discourse and its effect on pedagogy. It explores some of the challenges of coping with student diversity, with particular reference to the South African…

  6. Dual Learning--A Challenge for Higher Education in the New Landscape of Governance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aili, Carola; Nilsson, Lars-Erik

    2015-01-01

    In many countries, practice-oriented programmes have been recast as university programmes, fuelling debate on the purpose of higher education. We highlight two ways of talking about the challenges for higher education we think are already familiar to readers. We label them "political-worry discourse" and "academic-worry…

  7. The Impact of College Experiences on Conventional Career Logic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baumgardner, Steve R.

    1976-01-01

    The factors students consider in choosing a college major were scaled on an analytic-intuitive dimension. Differences in thinking orientation were found to be associated with students's sex, area of study, and year in school. Overall, the apparent lack of explicit rationality in student educational decisions appears to be adaptive. (Author)

  8. Reinventing the Formal Definition of Limit: The Case of Amy and Mike

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swinyard, Craig

    2011-01-01

    Relatively little is known about how students come to reason coherently about the formal definition of limit. While some have conjectured how students might think about limits formally, there is insufficient empirical evidence of students making sense of the conventional [superscript epsilon]-[delta] definition. This paper provides a detailed…

  9. Openness, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Antigay Prejudice in College Students: A Mediational Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cramer, Robert J.; Miller, Audrey K.; Amacker, Amanda M.; Burks, Alixandra C.

    2013-01-01

    Research has indicated that people who are more open to novel and diverse experiences express less prejudicial views concerning minority group members. The openness-prejudice relationship, however, may be mediated by the degree to which individuals adhere to traditional social convention and absolutist thinking patterns. Thus, informed by the…

  10. Does Mechanistic Thinking Improve Student Success in Organic Chemistry?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grove, Nathaniel P.; Cooper, Melanie M.; Cox, Elizabeth L.

    2012-01-01

    The use of the curved-arrow notation to depict electron flow during mechanistic processes is one of the most important representational conventions in the organic chemistry curriculum. Our previous research documented a disturbing trend: when asked to predict the products of a series of reactions, many students do not spontaneously engage in…

  11. Relation between Metacognitive Awareness and Participation to Class Discussion of University Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akman, Özkan; Alagöz, Bülent

    2018-01-01

    Form of inquiry should be based on cognitive approach, student-centered, question and inquiry-based, free of memorization and focused on high-level cognitive skills (critical-creative thinking and problem-solving) rather than conventional teacher-centered teaching and learning based on memorization and behavioral approach. The life quality of…

  12. Thinking Resources for Educational Research Methods and Methodology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peim, Nick

    2009-01-01

    This paper considers the idea of a crisis in educational research. Some conventional expressions of that "crisis" are examined in terms of their assumptions about what is "proper" to educational research. The paper then affirms the role of "metaphysics" in educational research as a necessary dimension of method, as opposed to the naive assertion…

  13. Learning Outcomes between Socioscientific Issues-Based Learning and Conventional Learning Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wongsri, Piyaluk; Nuangchalerm, Prasart

    2010-01-01

    Problem statement: Socioscientific issues-based learning activity is essential for scientific reasoning skills and it could be used for analyzing problems be applied to each situation for more successful and suitable. The purposes of this research aimed to compare learning achievement, analytical thinking and moral reasoning of seventh grade…

  14. The Mistake Colleges Make about Student Drinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Busteed, Brandon

    2008-01-01

    Despite conventional wisdom, the alcohol problem colleges face is not mainly about high-risk drinkers, and the solution is not about intervening with them alone. Yet studies show that, despite a handful of solid efforts in the realm of primary prevention, most colleges take a group-think approach to identifying and intervening with high-risk…

  15. What executives should remember.

    PubMed

    Drucker, Peter F

    2006-02-01

    In more than 30 essays for Harvard Business Review, Peter Drucker (1909-2005) urged readers to take on the hard work of thinking--always combined, he insisted, with decisive action. He closely analyzed the phenomenon of knowledge work--the growing call for employees who use their minds rather than their hands--and explained how it challenged the conventional wisdom about the way organizations should be run. He was intrigued by employees who knew more about certain subjects than their bosses or colleagues but who still had to cooperate with others in a large organization. As the business world matured in the second half of the twentieth century, executives came to think that they knew how to run companies--and Drucker took it upon himself to poke holes in their assumptions, lest organizations become stale. But he did so sympathetically, operating from the premise that his readers were intelligent, hardworking people of goodwill. Well suited to HBR's format of practical, idea-based essays for executives, his clear-eyed, humanistic writing enriched the magazine time and again. This article is a compilation of the savviest management advice Drucker offered HBR readers over the years--in short, his greatest hits. It revisits the following insightful, influential contributions: "The Theory of the Business" (September-October 1994), "Managing for Business Effectiveness" (May-June 1963), "What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits" (July-August 1989), "The New Society of Organizations" (September-October 1992), "The Information Executives Truly Need" (January-February 1995), "Managing Oneself" (March-April 1999 republished January 2005), "They're Not Employees, They're People" (February 2002), "What Makes an Effective Executive" (June 2004).

  16. Experiences that develop the ability to think strategically.

    PubMed

    Goldman, Ellen; Cahill, Terrence; Filho, Rubens Pessanha

    2009-01-01

    The ability to think strategically is an admired and a sought-after leadership requirement, yet we know little about how it develops. The purpose of this study is to identify specific experiences that contribute to the development of an individual's ability to think strategically. We identified eight work experiences, including different types of organizational projects, processes, and relationships, that contribute to an individual's strategic thinking ability. We also delineate specific characteristics material to each experience. These characteristics indicate that considerable time and focus are required to develop the ability to think strategically. In addition, the experiences are not all accessed equally: Women are less likely to have nonrelational experiences, while chief executive officers are more likely to have the most challenging ones. In addition, we found differences regarding work-related continuing education activities. Respondents rated nonhealthcare conferences and reading behind all other identified experiences that contribute to strategic thinking ability. Individuals can implement several strategies to improve their strategic thinking ability, including deliberately incorporating the requisite experiences into their development plans, ensuring that the experiences incorporate the required characteristics, and improving the benefit received from attending educational programs in nonhealthcare industries. Organizations can implement several strategies to ensure the experiences are as effective as possible, such as appraising gender differences across the experiences and reviewing the organization's strategic planning processes for the characteristics that best encourage strategic thinking.

  17. The Introduction of Appreciative Inquiry to the U.S. Navy Using Appreciative Inquiry Interviews and the Large Group Intervention with Applications to U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Strategic Management

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-03-01

    was selected to go to a deployed squadron. It was pretty challenging for this old farm boy—strapped my sea bag to my back and flew over to West ...them. And I think that it wasn’t just me, but all the " shooters " [catapult and arresting officers] watched out for these guys. I think we were...side and I think they appreciated that. The guys that didn’t do that— and there were a couple of " shooters " that didn’t do that—they weren’t as

  18. Meeting the Challenge: Computers and Higher Order Thinking. A Research Agenda. Program Report 86-15. Report of a Research Conference Held at the National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC, October 31-November 1, 1985).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patterson, Janice H.; Smith, Marshall S.

    This report presents a national agenda for research on the learning of thinking skills via computer technology which was developed at a National Academy of Sciences conference on educational, methodological, and practical issues involved in the use of computers to promote complex thought in grades K-12. The discussion of research topics agreed…

  19. Extending systems thinking in planning and evaluation using group concept mapping and system dynamics to tackle complex problems.

    PubMed

    Hassmiller Lich, Kristen; Urban, Jennifer Brown; Frerichs, Leah; Dave, Gaurav

    2017-02-01

    Group concept mapping (GCM) has been successfully employed in program planning and evaluation for over 25 years. The broader set of systems thinking methodologies (of which GCM is one), have only recently found their way into the field. We present an overview of systems thinking emerging from a system dynamics (SD) perspective, and illustrate the potential synergy between GCM and SD. As with GCM, participatory processes are frequently employed when building SD models; however, it can be challenging to engage a large and diverse group of stakeholders in the iterative cycles of divergent thinking and consensus building required, while maintaining a broad perspective on the issue being studied. GCM provides a compelling resource for overcoming this challenge, by richly engaging a diverse set of stakeholders in broad exploration, structuring, and prioritization. SD provides an opportunity to extend GCM findings by embedding constructs in a testable hypothesis (SD model) describing how system structure and changes in constructs affect outcomes over time. SD can be used to simulate the hypothesized dynamics inherent in GCM concept maps. We illustrate the potential of the marriage of these methodologies in a case study of BECOMING, a federally-funded program aimed at strengthening the cross-sector system of care for youth with severe emotional disturbances. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Developing leaders' strategic thinking through global work experience: the moderating role of cultural distance.

    PubMed

    Dragoni, Lisa; Oh, In-Sue; Tesluk, Paul E; Moore, Ozias A; VanKatwyk, Paul; Hazucha, Joy

    2014-09-01

    To respond to the challenge of how organizations can develop leaders who can think strategically, we investigate the relation of leaders' global work experiences--that is, those experiences that require the role incumbent to transcend national boundaries--to their competency in strategic thinking. We further examine whether leaders' exposure to a country whose culture is quite distinct from the culture of their own country (i.e., one that is culturally distant) moderates these relationships. Our analyses of 231 upper level leaders reveals that the time they have spent in global work experiences positively relates to their strategic thinking competency, particularly for leaders who have had exposure to a more culturally distant country. We discuss these findings in light of the research on international work experiences and leader development. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  1. The Future of Cardiac Imaging: Report of a Think Tank Convened by the American College of Cardiology.

    PubMed

    Douglas, Pamela S; Cerqueira, Manuel D; Berman, Daniel S; Chinnaiyan, Kavitha; Cohen, Meryl S; Lundbye, Justin B; Patel, Rajan A G; Sengupta, Partho P; Soman, Prem; Weissman, Neil J; Wong, Timothy C

    2016-10-01

    The American College of Cardiology's Executive Committee and Cardiovascular Imaging Section Leadership Council convened a discussion regarding the future of cardiac imaging among thought leaders in the field during a 2 day Think Tank. Participants were charged with thinking broadly about the future of imaging and developing a roadmap to address critical challenges. Key areas of discussion included: 1) how can cardiac imaging services thrive in our new world of value-based health care? 2) Who is the cardiac imager of the future and what is the role of the multimodality imager? 3) How can we nurture innovation and research in imaging? And 4) how can we maximize imaging information and optimize outcomes? This document describes the proceedings of this Think Tank. Copyright © 2016 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Assessment of Undergraduates' Real-World Outcomes of Critical Thinking in Everyday Situations.

    PubMed

    Franco, Amanda R; Costa, Patrício S; Butler, Heather A; Almeida, Leandro S

    2017-01-01

    Critical thinking is a kind of "good" thinking that integrates a set of cognitive skills and dispositions to use those skills with knowledge to increase the chances of success in academic settings, job market, and daily life. The impact of critical thinking on life events, in face of everyday decisions and challenges, is still unclear, and further research is needed. In this exploratory study, a sample of 230 first-year students of a Bachelor's Degree or a Master's Degree in Portugal completed an experimental Portuguese version of the Real-World Outcomes, a self-report inventory measuring everyday negative life events that are mediated by a lack of critical thinking. Based on exploratory factor analysis results and theoretical premises, changes were made to the Portuguese version of the inventory that was administered, and items were aggregated into six dimensions, creating a new version that is more familiar to Portuguese young adults in college. This original proposal of the inventory presents six types of negative life events resulting from a lack of critical thinking: health neglect, mismanagement, slackness, poor impulse control, academic negligence, and rashness. Both limitations and future potentialities of this version are presented.

  3. Innovation on Energy Power Technology (22)Challenge to Development of Expert System stored Knowledge of Expert Power Network Operators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sakaguchi, Hideharu

    Do you remember an expert system? I think there are various impressions about the system. For example, some might say “It reminds me of old days”. On the other hand, some might say “It was really troublesome”. About 25 years ago, from late 1980s to the middle of 1990s, when the Showa era was about to change into the Heisei Era, artificial intelligence boomed. Research and development for an expert system which was equipped with expertise and worked as smart as expert, was advanced in various fields. Our company also picked up the system as the new system which covered weak point of conventional computer technology. We started research and development in 1984, and installed an expert system in a SCADA system, which started operating in March 1990 in the Fukuoka Integrated Control Center. In this essay, as an electric power engineer who involved in development at that time, I introduce the situation and travail story about developing an expert system which support restorative actions from the outage and overload condition of power networks.

  4. The migratory bird treaty and a century of waterfowl conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anderson, Michael G.; Alisauskas, Ray T.; Batt, Bruce D. J.; Blohm, Robert J.; Higgins, Kenneth F.; Perry, Matthew; Ringelman, James K.; Sedinger, James S.; Serie, Jerome R.; Sharp, David E.; Trauger, David L.; Williams, Christopher K.

    2018-01-01

    In the final decades of the nineteenth century, concern was building about the status of migratory bird populations in North America. In this literature review, we describe how that concern led to a landmark conservation agreement in 1916, between the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) to conserve migratory birds shared by Canada and the United States. Drawing on published literature and our personal experience, we describe how subsequent enabling acts in both countries gave rise to efforts to better estimate population sizes and distributions, assess harvest rates and demographic impacts, design and fund landscape-level habitat conservation initiatives, and organize necessary political and regulatory processes. Executing these steps required large-scale thinking, unprecedented regional and international cooperation, ingenuity, and a commitment to scientific rigor and adaptive management. We applaud the conservation efforts begun 100 years ago with the Migratory Bird Treaty Convention. The agreement helped build the field of wildlife ecology and conservation in the twentieth century but only partially prepares us for the ecological and social challenges ahead. 

  5. Case Report of Relay Liver Transplantation With Graft Infected With Hepatitis B Virus.

    PubMed

    Wong, T C L; She, W H; Cheung, T T; Chan, S C; Lo, C M

    2015-11-01

    Reuse of liver graft for transplantation is extremely uncommon. We report the 1st case of reuse of liver graft from a recipient who had hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 11 years after the 1st transplantation. Our relay liver transplantation challenged conventional thinking because of late reuse of graft in the presence of HBV infection. Moreover, both the 1st and the 2nd donors were of advanced age. The key questions were whether the liver graft could be reused safely, especially in the setting of HBV infection, and technical concerns during organ procurement and implantation. The absence of HBV replication was confirmed with negative hepatitis B surface antigen and undetectable serum HBV DNA in the 2nd donor. Based on our experience in managing HBV infection after liver transplantation, we were confident that the adequately suppressed HBV infection in the donor would not jeopardize graft function and that the graft would be able to withstand another ischemia-perfusion injury to continue to function well in our recipient. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Recurrent syncope, orthostatic hypotension and volatile hypertension: think outside the box.

    PubMed

    Aung, Thein; Fan, Wuqiang; Krishnamurthy, Mahesh

    2013-01-01

    The baroreceptors in the neck and aortic arch are important regulators of sudden blood pressure changes. They are innervated by CN IX and X and synapse in the brainstem. Baroreceptor failure is an under-recognized cause of recurrent syncope, orthostatic hypotension, and volatile hypertension, which is refractory to and may in fact worsen with conventional treatments. Baroreflex failure can be the result of neck and chest radiation, head and neck surgery, and cerebrovascular accidents involving the brainstem nuclei. The management of baroreflex failure is a challenge since patient education, lifestyle changes, and family support are extremely important in managing blood pressure. Leg exercises and Thrombo-Embolic Deterrent Stockings (TED) stockings are important in treating orthostatic hypotension. Clonidine is the antihypertensive of choice for supine hypertension. Low-dose benzodiazepines are helpful in suppressing sympathetic surges. We have encountered two patients with baroreflex failure after chemotherapy and radiation to the neck or upper chest. Temporal relationship between symptoms onset and the history of head, neck, and upper chest radiation or trauma is important in reaching a diagnosis.

  7. U.S. hospitals mired in bureaucracy: 10 roadblocks to change.

    PubMed

    Thompson, R E

    2000-01-01

    Given the dot.com revolution in health care, advancing medical technology, and dissatisfaction with managed care, fundamental change is the order of the day in U.S. hospitals. Some hospital leaders are responding effectively to these new century challenges. But too many only tinker with existing systems, hoping to get by with choices that are comfortable, conventional, and convenient. Meanwhile, the sharks of dwindling public confidence and lost political support circle ever closer. The vice president of medical affairs (VPMA) is positioned at the vertex of disparate organizational, interpersonal, and external forces and can lead the way in recognizing and removing common roadblocks delaying needed change. External obstacles include: (1) Too much regulation; (2) too many attorneys; and (3) theatrical local TV newscasts. Internal factors include: (4) A natural fear of change; (5) arguing when we do not really disagree; (6) Cake Committee management mentality; (7) over-aggressive downsizing; (8) natural conflict in choosing a health care ethic; (9) the past; and (10) lack of trust. Hospital leaders need to effectively act, not just think, "outside the box."

  8. Chess from Square a1: Incorporating Chess into the Gifted Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Thomasina C. P.

    2012-01-01

    Teachers of gifted students often are challenged to find ways to stimulate critical thinking and problem-solving skills. School chess clubs are one way of meeting that challenge. This article poses how games such as chess affect learning and gifted students. Two detailed strategies for teaching chess to students beginning in kindergarten are…

  9. Computer Programming in Middle School: How Pairs Respond to Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Denner, Jill; Werner, Linda

    2007-01-01

    Many believe that girls lack the confidence and motivation to persist with computers when they face a challenge. In order to increase the number of girls and women in information technology careers, we need a better understanding of how they think about and solve problems while working on the computer. In this article, we describe a qualitative…

  10. Bebras--A Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dagiene, Valentina; Stupuriene, Gabriele

    2016-01-01

    As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based…

  11. Education's New Challenge and Choice: Instructional Technology -- Old Byway or Superhighway?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burke, Joseph C.

    1994-01-01

    Higher education is trapped in a time warp -- a pre-Gutenberg era where instructional information is mostly transmitted by word of mouth. New information technologies present a critical challenge which cannot be ignored if higher education is to succeed or even survive. Increasingly diverse college students are beginning to think and act like…

  12. Increasing Early Opportunities in Engineering for Advanced Learners in Elementary Classrooms: A Review of Recent Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dailey, Debbie; Cotabish, Alicia; Jackson, Nykela

    2018-01-01

    Present and future challenges in our society demand a solid science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge base, innovative thinking, and the ability to ask the right questions to generate multiple solutions. To prepare innovators to meet these challenges, we must recognize and develop their talents. This advancement and growth…

  13. Great Minds Don't Always Think Alike: The Challenges of Conducting Substance Abuse Prevention Research in Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Renes, Susan L.; Ringwalt, Chris; Clark, Heddy Kovach; Hanley, Sean

    2007-01-01

    Prevention researchers and school personnel lack a common understanding concerning the opportunities and burdens of school-based drug prevention research. In this article, we review issues related to researching substance abuse prevention programs in school settings, and assess challenges related to recruitment, communication, research design,…

  14. Introduction of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Technical University Education in Ghana: Challenges and the Way Forward

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Acquah, Prince C.; Asamoah, Jack N.; Konadu, Daniel D.

    2017-01-01

    Geographic Information System (GIS) continue to play very important role in improving spatial thinking skills of graduates from higher educational institutions. However, teaching and learning of GIS at the technical university level in Ghana remains very limited due to some implementation challenges. This paper reviews the implementation of GIS in…

  15. Capacity Building: Reshaping Urban Community College Resources in Response to Emerging Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lassiter, Wright L., Jr.

    2013-01-01

    Urban community colleges face a myriad of convergent challenges, including the loss of state funding and local property tax support, increased demands for better performance and greater accountability, and record-high enrollment by the most underprepared students in higher education. Sometimes to make sense of it all, it helps to think of an onion.

  16. The Challenge of the Social Sciences: The Impact of Sociology among First Year Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graaff, J. F.

    2007-01-01

    Sociology invites transformations among first year students which go through at least three distinct levels. At the conceptual level, three basic concepts, debunking, relativizing and system-relating, challenge public opinion modes of thinking. But students in this course go beyond explicit course examples and perform these notions in a more…

  17. Feminism and Cultural Studies in Composition: Locating Women and Men in College Writing Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perry, Merry G.

    2006-01-01

    Merry Perry teaches English courses (both writing and literature) where the majority of the students are white, middle class, and conservative. Perry begins the article by saying that in such an academic environment, her most challenging task is not teaching grammar, punctuation, or editing skills, but challenging these students to think about and…

  18. Teacher Educators' Reflections on Moments in a Secondary Teacher Education Course: Thinking Forward by Challenging Our Teaching Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Freedman, Debra M.; Bullock, Patricia L.; Duque, Genevieve S.

    2005-01-01

    In this paper the authors explore two pedagogical moments that occurred within a diversity-focused secondary teacher education course, giving specific attention to Genevieve's and Debra's reflections as course instructors. We explore the ways in which instructors find themselves challenged, engaged and provoked to rethink taken for granted ideas…

  19. Challenges Beginning Teachers Face in Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lam, Bick-Har

    2014-01-01

    By conducting in-depth interviews with new teachers who are about to become full-time teachers and then reinterviewing them two years later, the author of this article presents how beginning teachers think and feel about teaching and describes the challenges they face as beginning teachers in the context of Hong Kong. The stories of the teachers,…

  20. Connecting Thought and Action: The Challenge for Liberal Arts Presidents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coleman, Elizabeth

    2004-01-01

    In this article, the author describes a key challenge facing liberal arts presidents: to accommodate a reciprocal relationship between thinking and doing. Achieving a continuum between thought and action has never been easy--on the academic side is the fear of diluting intellectual rigor matched on the practical side by the fear of paralysis.…

  1. Thinking outside the Blocks: Lego Day in a Pedagogy of Play

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krug, Kate

    2011-01-01

    Engaging students while providing them with the necessary linguistic and critical skills as a foundation for further exploration are the principle challenges for those of us who teach disciplinary introductory courses. My own response to this challenge has been to develop and implement what I refer to as the "pedagogy of play." Informed…

  2. Lessons from the Labor Organizing Community and Health Project: Meeting the Challenges of Student Engagement in Community Based Participatory Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allison, Juliann Emmons; Khan, Tabassum; Reese, Ellen; Dobias, Becca Spence; Struna, Jason

    2015-01-01

    Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) provides opportunities for scholars and students to respond directly to community needs; students also practice critical thinking, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills necessary for professional life and engaged citizenship. The challenges of involving undergraduate students in CBPR include…

  3. Cognitive mediational deficits and the role of coping styles in pedophile and ephebophile Roman Catholic clergy.

    PubMed

    Ryan, Gregory P; Baerwald, Jeffrey P; McGlone, Gerard

    2008-01-01

    This study was designed to examine hypothesized differences between sex offending and nonoffending Roman Catholic clergy on cognitive mediation abilities as measured by the Rorschach Inkblot Test (H. Rorschach, 1921/1942). This study compared 78 priest pedophiles and 77 priest ephebophiles with 80 nonoffending priest controls on the Inkblot test using J. E. Exner's (2003) Comprehensive System. The three groups were compared on seven variables that constitute Exner's Cognitive Mediation cluster. Additionally, the groups' coping styles were compared to examine the interaction of coping style and cognitive mediational abilities. We found interactions between coping style and offending status across most of the cognitive variables indicating impairment in the mild to pathological ranges. Moreover, significantly higher unusual thinking styles (Xu%) and significantly lower conventional thinking styles (X+%) in offenders compared to nonoffenders. Those with an Extratensive style (n=31) showed significantly higher distorted thinking when compared to the Introversive (n=81), Ambitent (n=73), and Avoidant (n=50) coping styles. This study suggests that offenders display significantly higher distorted thinking styles than do nonoffenders. Possible reasons for these discrepancies and the role of coping styles in abusive behaviors were discussed. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Remembering the Forest While Viewing the Trees: Evolutionary Thinking in the Teaching of Molecular Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saraswati, Sitaraman; Sitaraman, Ramakrishnan

    2014-01-01

    Given the centrality of evolutionary theory to the study of biology, we present a strategy for reinforcing its importance by appropriately recontextualizing classic and well-known experiments that are not explicitly linked with evolution in conventional texts. This exercise gives students an appreciation of the applicability of the theory of…

  5. A Comparative Study of a Research-Oriented High School Advanced Biology Class and a Conventional Textbook-Centered Class.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Alva Nelson

    Two instructional methods were identified and compared to determine if any significant differences could be noted on three criterion measures. Measurements were conducted in the areas of achievement in biology, science attitudes, and critical thinking ability. Student ability was measured using pre-tests and the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Students…

  6. Relating to Our Work, Accounting for Our Selves: The Autobiographical Imperative in Teaching about Difference

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thurlow, Crispin

    2004-01-01

    The central thesis in this essay is the need to get more "personal" and more "political" in our thinking and especially our teaching about interculturality. Offering a "radical" critique of the agenda of conventional Intercultural Communication scholarship, I draw my inspiration from the conceptual and philosophical roots of the field, while also…

  7. Writing Partners: Service Learning as a Route to Authority for Basic Writers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gabor, Catherine

    2009-01-01

    This article looks at best practices in basic writing instruction in terms of non-traditional audiences and writerly authority. Much conventional wisdom discourages participation in service-learning projects for basic writers because of the assumption that their writing is not yet ready to "go public." Countering this line of thinking, the author…

  8. Spatial Language Facilitates Spatial Cognition: Evidence from Children Who Lack Language Input

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gentner, Dedre; Ozyurek, Asli; Gurcanli, Ozge; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2013-01-01

    Does spatial language influence how people think about space? To address this question, we observed children who did not know a conventional language, and tested their performance on nonlinguistic spatial tasks. We studied deaf children living in Istanbul whose hearing losses prevented them from acquiring speech and whose hearing parents had not…

  9. Diversions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gough, John

    2017-01-01

    Three game examples using L-shaped tri-cubes in alternative arrangements are presented. Each game example challenges you to think who might win, and what alternative playing strategies could be implemented to change the final outcome.

  10. Imran Khan and EPI: challenging conventional approaches to health promotion in Pakistan.

    PubMed

    Stiles, M

    1995-01-01

    In Pakistan, international donors and the Ministry of Health produced tens of thousands of posters and calendars featuring a national sports hero who promoted immunization on television at an exorbitant cost to USAID. After field testing the spots on 120 rural mothers with children under the age of 5, it turned out that 72% of them did not recognize the cricket champion. This meant that the conventional thinking of donors about effective health promotion had to be challenged. A nationwide media survey also confirmed this opinion indicating that in rural households only 18% watched TV regularly, only 14% listened to radio regularly, and only 2% read newspapers. They received the best advice on child health from doctors, paramedics, and family members. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) used these findings to signal a change in policy and put greater emphasis on interpersonal communication. The typical vaccination course held for field worker vaccinators was regimented and unimaginative. Therefore, a 3-day workshop was designed consisting of interactive exercises and role plays on interpersonal communication and motivation; and on some key technical aspects of immunization and diarrheal disease control. Pilot training sessions were held in all four provinces; a curriculum was devised and a colorful trainer's guide was produced. More than 270 master trainers were trained in the provinces, some of whom eventually trained more than 10,000 vaccinators. In health communication interaction (two-way exchanges of information) that induces people to adopt health-enhancing behaviors was emphasized. Designing the right messages had to do with listening, analysis, persuasion, and story-telling for effective communication. More decentralization was also attempted, but resistance was encountered from the bureaucracy who could not be convinced that health promotion was the task of everyone in the field not just the prerogative of health educators working in the provincial health department. The training materials were later used in Bangladesh and Africa.

  11. Teller Award Acceptance Speech (LIRPP Vol. 12)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCrory, Robert L.

    2016-10-01

    It is indeed an honor to receive an award named for such an accomplished and famous physicist who is present with us today, Dr. Edward Teller. In thinking over what to say on this occasion, I noted that the Teller Award was given for pioneering research in controlled fusion, in controlling fusion for the benefit of mankind. I think everyone in this audience certainly would agree that this lofty goal is truly one of the unconquered, grand challenges in applied physics...

  12. Single service point: it's all in the design.

    PubMed

    Bradigan, Pamela S; Rodman, Ruey L

    2008-01-01

    "Design thinking" principles from a leading design firm, IDEO, were key elements in the planning process for a one-desk service model, the ASK Desk, at the John A. Prior Health Sciences Library. The library administration and staff employed the methodology to enhance customer experiences, meet technology challenges, and compete in a changing education environment. The most recent renovations demonstrate how the principles were applied. The concept of "continuous design thinking" is important in the library's daily operations to serve customers most effectively.

  13. Theory versus practice in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lobos, Víctor, E-mail: vlobosg@gmail.com; Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo, San Crescente 551, Las Condes, Santiago; Partidario, Maria

    Could the theory of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) be ahead of its time and decoupled from its practice? This paper evolved in search for this leading research question. Over the years the discourse on SEA experienced a gradual shift from the technocratic and rationalist thinking that supported its origin to more strategic approaches and integrated concepts, suggested since the mid 1990's. In this paper we share the results of our analysis of international thinking and practical experience with SEA. Results reveal that SEA practice changes very slowly when compared to advanced thinking supporting the noted shift. Current SEA practice showsmore » to be still predominantly rooted in the logic of projects' environmental impact assessment (EIA). It is strongly bound to legal and regulatory requirements, and the motivation for its application persists being the delivery of environmental (or final) reports to meet legal obligations. Even though advanced SEA theoretical thinking claim its potential to help decisions to look forward, change mind-sets and the rationale of decision-making to meet sustainability challenges and enhance societal values, we note a weak relationship between the theoretical development of SEA and its practice. Why is this happening? Which factors explain this apparent inertia, resistance to change, in the SEA practice? Results appear to demonstrate the influence of assumptions, understandings, concepts, and beliefs in the use of SEA, which in turn suggest the political sensitivity of the instrument. - Highlights: • Theoretical thinking in SEA is ahead of its time. • SEA international practice reveals inertia to move out of project’ EIA comfort zone. • World current SEA practice show similar understandings of 30 years ago. • 100 world reports and survey of practitioners supported world review. • SEA great challenge is to change paradigms into new scientific complexity theories.« less

  14. The imperatives of narrative: health interest groups and morality in network news.

    PubMed

    Braun, Joshua A

    2007-08-01

    This article examines some of the story conventions of network television news to explain the ways in which healthcare interest groups develop and maintain their presence in this medium - a process that has significant implications for public understanding of healthcare issues, and therefore to bioethics. The article is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on three major normative conventions of television news: adherence to a simple narrative structure, the balance ethic, and avoidance of the "think-piece" and outlines the basic strategies available to interest groups for exploiting these normative conventions. Section two introduces three case studies of organizations and individuals who have run high-profile media campaigns. Section three explores the implications for bioethics of the observations made in this article.

  15. Make Energy at the Bay Area Maker Faire

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2018-01-16

    Think. Make. Innovate. A festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness that gathers makers of all kinds. Scientists are seeking to find innovative solutions to the energy challenges in the world.

  16. Spin Seebeck effect: Thinks globally but acts locally

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sinova, Jairo

    2010-11-01

    Experiments on magnetic insulators and semiconductors imply that the spin Seebeck effect is conceptually different from the standard thermoelectric effect, launching new challenges for both theorists and experimentalists in spintronics.

  17. Teaching systems thinking to 4th and 5th graders using Environmental Dashboard display technology.

    PubMed

    Clark, Shane; Petersen, John E; Frantz, Cindy M; Roose, Deborah; Ginn, Joel; Rosenberg Daneri, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Tackling complex environmental challenges requires the capacity to understand how relationships and interactions between parts result in dynamic behavior of whole systems. There has been convincing research that these "systems thinking" skills can be learned. However, there is little research on methods for teaching these skills to children or assessing their impact. The Environmental Dashboard is a technology that uses "sociotechnical" feedback-information feedback designed to affect thought and behavior. Environmental Dashboard (ED) combines real-time information on community resource use with images and words that reflect pro-environmental actions of community members. Prior research indicates that ED supports the development of systems thinking in adults. To assess its impact on children, the technology was installed in a primary school and children were passively exposed to ED displays. This resulted in no measurable impact on systems thinking skills. The next stage of this research examined the impact of actively integrating ED into lessons on electricity in 4th and 5th grade. This active integration enhanced both content-related systems thinking skills and content retention.

  18. [Clinical reasoning in undergraduate nursing education: a scoping review].

    PubMed

    Menezes, Sáskia Sampaio Cipriano de; Corrêa, Consuelo Garcia; Silva, Rita de Cássia Gengo E; Cruz, Diná de Almeida Monteiro Lopes da

    2015-12-01

    This study aimed at analyzing the current state of knowledge on clinical reasoning in undergraduate nursing education. A systematic scoping review through a search strategy applied to the MEDLINE database, and an analysis of the material recovered by extracting data done by two independent reviewers. The extracted data were analyzed and synthesized in a narrative manner. From the 1380 citations retrieved in the search, 23 were kept for review and their contents were summarized into five categories: 1) the experience of developing critical thinking/clinical reasoning/decision-making process; 2) teaching strategies related to the development of critical thinking/clinical reasoning/decision-making process; 3) measurement of variables related to the critical thinking/clinical reasoning/decision-making process; 4) relationship of variables involved in the critical thinking/clinical reasoning/decision-making process; and 5) theoretical development models of critical thinking/clinical reasoning/decision-making process for students. The biggest challenge for developing knowledge on teaching clinical reasoning seems to be finding consistency between theoretical perspectives on the development of clinical reasoning and methodologies, methods, and procedures in research initiatives in this field.

  19. [Lean thinking and brain-dead patient assistance in the organ donation process].

    PubMed

    Pestana, Aline Lima; dos Santos, José Luís Guedes; Erdmann, Rolf Hermann; da Silva, Elza Lima; Erdmann, Alacoque Lorenzini

    2013-02-01

    Organ donation is a complex process that challenges health system professionals and managers. This study aimed to introduce a theoretical model to organize brain-dead patient assistance and the organ donation process guided by the main lean thinking ideas, which enable production improvement through planning cycles and the development of a proper environment for successful implementation. Lean thinking may make the process of organ donation more effective and efficient and may contribute to improvements in information systematization and professional qualifications for excellence of assistance. The model is configured as a reference that is available for validation and implementation by health and nursing professionals and managers in the management of potential organ donors after brain death assistance and subsequent transplantation demands.

  20. Cultural Diversity in Science Education through "Novelization": Against the "Epicization" of Science and Cultural Centralization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van Eijck, Michiel; Roth, Wolff-Michael

    2011-01-01

    Science educators are confronted with the challenge to accommodate in their classes an increasing cultural and linguistic diversity that results from globalization. Challenged by the call to work towards valuing and keeping this diversity in the face of the canonical nature of school science discourse, we propose a new way of thinking about and…

  1. Challenges of Applying a Student-Centered Approach to Learning in the Context of Education in Kyrgyzstan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    de la Sablonniere, Roxane; Taylor, Donald M.; Sadykova, Nazgul

    2009-01-01

    The challenge of maximizing student learning has been paramount in many societies. This issue has become especially salient in the context of drastic social and political changes that have taken place in countries such as Kyrgyzstan. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, teachers and students are confronted with new ways of thinking, which are…

  2. What Do Students Think about Group Work in Business Education? An Investigation into the Benefits, Challenges, and Student-Suggested Solutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Seung Hwan Mark; Smith, Donna; Sergueeva, Ksenia

    2016-01-01

    The authors sought to gain insight on how students view group learning and development as part of their business education experience. Specifically, the authors categorize benefits and challenges using S. A. Wheelan's (2005) integrated model of group development. Additionally, they investigate (from the students' perspective) best practices that…

  3. STEM Is Elementary: Challenges Faced by Elementary Teachers in the Era of the Next Generation Science Standards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Isabelle, Aaron D.

    2017-01-01

    For students to achieve the goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by Grade 12, thinking and acting like scientists and engineers must begin in the elementary grades. However, elementary teachers may find this challenging -because language arts and mathematics still dominate many classrooms--often at the expense of science. This…

  4. Assessment Reform: Students' and Teachers' Responses to the Introduction of Stretch and Challenge at A-Level

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daly, Anthony L.; Baird, Jo-Anne; Chamberlain, Suzanne; Meadows, Michelle

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes an exploration into a reform of the A-level qualification in England in 2008; namely, the introduction of the "stretch and challenge" policy. This policy was initiated by the exams regulator and determined that exam papers should be redesigned to encourage the application of higher order thinking skills, both in the…

  5. Promoting the teaching of critical thinking skills through faculty development.

    PubMed

    Behar-Horenstein, Linda S; Schneider-Mitchell, Gail; Graff, Randy

    2009-06-01

    Practical and effective faculty development programs are vital to individual and institutional success. However, there is little evidence that program outcomes result in instructional changes. The purpose of this study was to determine if and how faculty development would enhance participants' use of critical thinking skills in instruction. Seven faculty members from the University of Florida College of Dentistry and one faculty member from another health science college participated in six weekly two-hour faculty development sessions in spring 2007 that focused on enhancing critical thinking skills in instruction. Kaufman's and Rachal's principles of andragogy (adult learning) were used to design the sessions. Participants used learning journals to respond to four instructor-assigned prompts and provided one presentation to peers. With the use of qualitative methods, eight themes emerged across the learning journals: teaching goals, critical thinking, awareness of learners, planned instructional change, teaching efficacy, self-doubt, external challenges, and changes made. Five of eight participants incorporated critical thinking skills into their presentations at a mean level of 2.4 or higher on a 5-point scale using Paul and Elder's behavioral definition of critical thinking skills. Faculty development opportunities that cause participants to reason through learning journals, peer presentations, and group discussion demonstrated the incorporation of critical thinking concepts in 63 percent of this cohort group's presentations, suggesting that if evidence-based pedagogies are followed, instructional changes can result from faculty development.

  6. Guiding dental student learning and assessing performance in critical thinking with analysis of emerging strategies.

    PubMed

    Johnsen, David C; Lipp, Mitchell J; Finkelstein, Michael W; Cunningham-Ford, Marsha A

    2012-12-01

    Patient-centered care involves an inseparable set of knowledge, abilities, and professional traits on the part of the health care provider. For practical reasons, health professions education is segmented into disciplines or domains like knowledge, technical skills, and critical thinking, and the culture of dental education is weighted toward knowledge and technical skills. Critical thinking, however, has become a growing presence in dental curricula. To guide student learning and assess performance in critical thinking, guidelines have been developed over the past several decades in the educational literature. Prominent among these guidelines are the following: engage the student in multiple situations/exercises reflecting critical thinking; for each exercise, emulate the intended activity for validity; gain agreement of faculty members across disciplines and curriculum years on the learning construct, application, and performance assessment protocol for reliability; and use the same instrument to guide learning and assess performance. The purposes of this article are 1) to offer a set of concepts from the education literature potentially helpful to guide program design or corroborate existing programs in dental education; 2) to offer an implementation model consolidating these concepts as a guide for program design and execution; 3) to cite specific examples of exercises and programs in critical thinking in the dental education literature analyzed against these concepts; and 4) to discuss opportunities and challenges in guiding student learning and assessing performance in critical thinking for dentistry.

  7. Growth, Morphogenesis, and Virulence of Candida albicans after Oral Inoculation in the Germ-Free and Conventional Chick1

    PubMed Central

    Balish, Edward; Phillips, A. W.

    1966-01-01

    Balish, Edward (Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.), and A. W. Phillips. Growth, morphogenesis, and virulence of Candida albicans after oral inoculation in the germ-free and conventional chick. J. Bacteriol. 91:1736–1743. 1966.—The effects of intestinal bacteria on the multiplication, morphogenesis, and infectivity of Candida albicans in the alimentary tract were investigated by comparing results obtained in germ-free and conventional chicks after oral inoculation. This challenge resulted in the establishment of large numbers of the pathogen in the alimentary tract of each group of chicks; these numbers were increased in crop contents from challenged bacteria-free chicks wherein hyphae predominated over the yeast form. These animals also had lesions of the crop epithelium containing numerous hyphae and few yeast-like forms. In contrast, challenged conventional chicks receiving an adequate diet displayed no evidence of infection. Their alimentary tract contained the yeast form of C. albicans; no hyphae were seen. Although we found bacterial inhibition of C. albicans multiplication in the alimentary tract, this in itself did not seem to explain the resistance to intestinal candidiasis in our conventional chicks. We argued that this resistance to infection was due chiefly to the prevention of hyphal development in C. albicans by intestinal bacteria. C. albicans in the gut of our conventional chicks resulted in some increase in numbers of enterococci in contents from the crop. Increased pH values in contents from the gut of germ-free chicks were not clearly related to infection after challenge. The Eh of the above crop contents were only slightly decreased in the germ-free crop. Thus the Eh did not appear to be involved in susceptibility to infection. Invasion of the blood stream and kidneys of conventional chicks by the yeast form of C. albicans occurred in challenged animals receiving a purified diet which had been radiation-sterilized and stored for 6 months at room temperature (25 C). Their growth rate decreased and they became moribund; no hyphae were observed in tissues or intestine of these animals. Challenged bacteria-free chicks receiving the same diet were resistant to the above invasion, although they had crop lesions containing hyphae as described. The resistance of these chicks to systemic invasion was attributed to absence of intestinal bacteria competing for low levels of vitamins in the stored diet. Germ-free chicks had decreased levels of serum γ-globulin which increased after challenge, whereas this value was unchanged in conventional birds after challenge. Images PMID:4160824

  8. Collaborating with medicine? Perceptions of Australian naturopaths on integrating within the conventional medical system.

    PubMed

    Wardle, J; Steel, A; Lauche, R; Adams, J

    2017-11-01

    Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is an increasingly prevalent part of contemporary health care. Whilst there have been some attempts to understand the dynamics of CAM integration in the health care system from the perspective of conventional care providers and patients, little research has examined the view of CAM practitioners. This study aims to identify the experiences of integration within a conventional healthcare system as perceived by naturopaths. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted using a purposeful sample of 20 practising naturopaths in South East Queensland, Australia to discuss their experiences and perceptions of integrating with conventional medical providers. Analysis of the interviews revealed five broad challenges for the integration of CAM according to naturopaths: competing paradigms between CAM and conventional medicine; co-option of CAM by conventional medical practitioners; the preservation of separate CAM and conventional medical worlds by patients and providers due to lack of formalised relations; negative feedback and biases created through selective or limited experience or information with CAM; and indifferent, reactive and one-sided interaction between CAM and conventional medical providers. Naturopaths support the integration of health services and attempt to provide safe and appropriate care to their patients through collaborative approaches to practice. The challenges identified by naturopaths associated with integration of CAM with conventional providers may impact the quality of care of patients who choose to integrate CAM and conventional approaches to health. Given the significant role of naturopaths in contemporary health-care systems, these challenges require further research and policy attention.

  9. Post-conventional moral reasoning is associated with increased ventral striatal activity at rest and during task.

    PubMed

    Fang, Zhuo; Jung, Wi Hoon; Korczykowski, Marc; Luo, Lijuan; Prehn, Kristin; Xu, Sihua; Detre, John A; Kable, Joseph W; Robertson, Diana C; Rao, Hengyi

    2017-08-02

    People vary considerably in moral reasoning. According to Kohlberg's theory, individuals who reach the highest level of post-conventional moral reasoning judge moral issues based on deeper principles and shared ideals rather than self-interest or adherence to laws and rules. Recent research has suggested the involvement of the brain's frontostriatal reward system in moral judgments and prosocial behaviors. However, it remains unknown whether moral reasoning level is associated with differences in reward system function. Here, we combined arterial spin labeling perfusion and blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging and measured frontostriatal reward system activity both at rest and during a sequential risky decision making task in a sample of 64 participants at different levels of moral reasoning. Compared to individuals at the pre-conventional and conventional level of moral reasoning, post-conventional individuals showed increased resting cerebral blood flow in the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Cerebral blood flow in these brain regions correlated with the degree of post-conventional thinking across groups. Post-conventional individuals also showed greater task-induced activation in the ventral striatum during risky decision making. These findings suggest that high-level post-conventional moral reasoning is associated with increased activity in the brain's frontostriatal system, regardless of task-dependent or task-independent states.

  10. Teaching and Learning with Technology in Higher Education: Blended and Distance Education Needs "Joined-up Thinking" Rather than Technological Determinism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirkwood, Adrian

    2014-01-01

    In higher education (HE), some of the distinctions between conventional, campus-based universities and those dedicated to distance education are being eroded through the use of information and communication technology. Despite huge investments in technology to enhance teaching and learning, there has been a considerable lack of clarity about what…

  11. A Learning Place: Ten Years in the Life of a New Kind of Campus Center

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Misencik, Karen E.; O'Connor, John S.; Young, James

    2005-01-01

    When George Mason University's Johnson Center opened a decade ago, it was on the leading edge of architectural design and innovative thinking about spaces for learning. Over time, the building has retained many of its revolutionary aspects even as it has accepted encroachments of conventionality. With its four floors and central atrium, twenty-two…

  12. The Cognitive Processes Used in Team Collaboration During Asynchronous, Distributed Decision Making

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-06-01

    Transfer Conventions (IPtcp) IP: Solution Alternatives (IPsa) KB: Collaborative Knowledge (KBck) KB: Shared Understanding ( KBsu ) KB: Domain...Gill.” KBsu : Knowledge Building (shared understanding) = using facts to justify a solution. “I think Eddie did it because he was hard of hearing...KB: Collaborative Knowledge (KBck) KB: Shared Understanding ( KBsu ) KB: Domain Expertise (IPde) * * ** ** ** = significant Results 15

  13. How the Dollar's Value Affects U.S. Farm Exports to Developing Countries. Foreign Agricultural Economic Report Number 237.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burfisher, Mary E.

    United States exports may not necessarily increase when the dollar falls on the world market. Conventional thinking is that a weaker dollar means more demand for U.S. products because they become less expensive than goods from countries with stronger currencies. However, developing countries whose export revenues are denominated in the weakening…

  14. Effect of the essentials of critical care orientation (ECCO) program on the development of nurses' critical thinking skills.

    PubMed

    Kaddoura, Mahmoud A

    2010-09-01

    It is essential for nurses to develop critical thinking skills to ensure their ability to provide safe and effective care to patients with complex and variable needs in ever-changing clinical environments. To date, very few studies have been conducted to examine how nursing orientation programs develop the critical thinking skills of novice critical care nurses. Strikingly, no research studies could be found about the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Essentials of Critical Care Orientation (ECCO) program and specifically its effect on the development of nurses' critical thinking skills. This study explored the perceptions of new graduate nurses regarding factors that helped to develop their critical thinking skills throughout their 6-month orientation program in the intensive care unit. A convenient non-probability sample of eight new graduates was selected from a hospital that used the ECCO program. Data were collected with demographic questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. An exploratory qualitative research method with content analysis was used to analyze the data. The study findings showed that new graduate nurses perceived that they developed critical thinking skills that improved throughout the orientation period, although there were some challenges in the ECCO program. This study provides data that could influence the development and implementation of future nursing orientation programs. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

  15. Access and benefit sharing (ABS) under the convention on biological diversity (CBD): implications for microbial biological control

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Researchers and implementers of biological control are confronted with a variety of scientific, regulatory and administrative challenges to their biological control programs. One developing challenge will arise from the implementation of provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) co...

  16. Re-Picturing Photography: A Language in the Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Navab, Aphrodite Desiree

    2001-01-01

    For over one hundred and fifty years practitioners, critics, and historians have continuously challenged and added dimensions to the meaning and uses of photography. Yet there has been little challenge to its highly disturbing linguistic conventions. By uncritically accepting and using these conventions, those involved in the culture of…

  17. Mitigating the Cultural Challenges of SOF/Conventional Force Interdependence

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-03-01

    Cultural Challenges of SOF / Conventional Force Interdependence 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S...January 16, 2013. 31 Daniel French , “Integration of General Purpose Forces and Army Special Operations,” 1. 32 Edward L. Cardon , “Recognizing

  18. Moral Fitness: Ethical Education for Marines

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-04-16

    Kohlberg grouped his stages of moral development into three levels: the pre-conventional, the conventional level, and the post conventional...According to Kohlberg , most adults stop developing in the conventional level. This puts the challenge on the Marine Corps to develop junior Marines to

  19. A preliminary study on the integral relationship between critical thinking and mathematical thinking among practicing civil engineers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osman, Sharifah; Mohammad, Shahrin; Abu, Mohd Salleh

    2015-05-01

    Mathematics and engineering are inexorably and significantly linked and essentially required in analyzing and accessing thought to make good judgment when dealing in complex and varied engineering problems. A study in the current engineering education curriculum to explore how the critical thinking and mathematical thinking relates to one another, is therefore timely crucial. Unfortunately, there is not much information available explicating about the link. This paper aims to report findings of a critical review as well as to provide brief description of an on-going research aimed to investigate the dispositions of critical thinking and the relationship and integration between critical thinking and mathematical thinking during the execution of civil engineering tasks. The first part of the paper reports an in-depth review on these matters based on rather limited resources. The review showed a considerable form of congruency between these two perspectives of thinking, with some prevalent trends of engineering workplace tasks, problems and challenges. The second part describes an on-going research to be conducted by the researcher to investigate rigorously the relationship and integration between these two types of thinking within the perspective of civil engineering tasks. A reasonably close non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews will be executed for the pilot and main stages of the study. The data will be analyzed using constant comparative analysis in which the grounded theory methodology will be adopted. The findings will serve as a useful grounding for constructing a substantive theory revealing the integral relationship between critical thinking and mathematical thinking in the real civil engineering practice context. The substantive theory, from an angle of view, is expected to contribute some additional useful information to the engineering program outcomes and engineering education instructions, aligns with the expectations of engineering program outcomes set by the Engineering Accreditation Council.

  20. Challenges to Military Operations in Support of U.S. Interests. Volume 2: Main Report

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-12-01

    Challenges to Military Operations in Support of U.S. Interests U.S. conventional military capability remains unmatched by any state. As a result, nations...greater importance. PR EF AC E I xiii Preface U.S. conventional military capability remains unmatched by any state. U.S...scope of the study remained robust, presenting the challenge of how to approach the investigation into U.S. capabilities, capability gaps, and

  1. Human Capacity Development: The Road to Global Competitiveness and Leadership in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (FANRRS)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2009

    2009-01-01

    Several years ago a senior APS colleague challenged the leaders of academic programs to critically think about a preferred future for ensuring that there is not only the capability, but also the willingness to recognize and reform and/or reframe higher education programs within FANRRS to meet the challenges of "preparing society ready…

  2. A Work-Based Learning Approach to Developing Leadership for Senior Health and Social Care Professionals: A Case Study from Middlesex University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rounce, Katherine; Scarfe, Annabel; Garnett, Jonathan

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: This paper is of a complex and challenging collaboration. It aims to explore the challenges to both higher education (HE) and commissioners that stimulated different thinking and creative ways of delivering learning, assessing and the consequent impact on practice through a collaborative programme. The purpose of the collaboration was to…

  3. New Ethical Challenges within Environmental and Sustainability Education: A Response

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Todd, Sharon

    2016-01-01

    One of the major points to grow out of the four papers presented in this issue is how to think of education in relation to the various challenges facing the biosphere, facing the future of human and other than human life forms, and facing the sheer difficulties of planning what to do about them. The differences in the role of education, of course,…

  4. A Conceptual Framework for Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design: A Case Study in Neuroscience

    PubMed Central

    Modo, Michel; Kinchin, Ian

    2011-01-01

    Teaching of interdisciplinary fields of study poses a challenge to course organizers. Often interdisciplinary courses are taught by different departments, and hence, at best provide a multidisciplinary overview. Scientific progress in neuroscience, for instance, is thought to depend heavily on interdisciplinary investigations. If students are only taught to think in particular disciplines without integrating these into a coherent framework to study the nervous system, it is unlikely that they will truly develop interdisciplinary thinking. Yet, it is this interdisciplinary thinking that is at the heart of a holistic understanding of the brain. It is, therefore, important to develop a conceptual framework in which students can be taught interdisciplinary, rather than multidisciplinary, thinking. It is also important to recognize that not all teaching needs to be interdisciplinary, but that the type of curriculum design is dependent on the aims of the course, as well as on the background of the students. A rational curriculum design that aligns learning and teaching objectives is, therefore, advocated. PMID:23626496

  5. Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN): The Key is Systems Thinking.

    PubMed

    Dolansky, Mary A; Moore, Shirley M

    2013-09-30

    Over a decade has passed since the Institute of Medicine's reports on the need to improve the American healthcare system, and yet only slight improvement in quality and safety has been reported. The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative was developed to integrate quality and safety competencies into nursing education. The current challenge is for nurses to move beyond the application of QSEN competencies to individual patients and families and incorporate systems thinking in quality and safety education and healthcare delivery. This article provides a history of QSEN and proposes a framework in which systems thinking is a critical aspect in the application of the QSEN competencies. We provide examples of how using this framework expands nursing focus from individual care to care of the system and propose ways to teach and measure systems thinking. The conclusion calls for movement from personal effort and individual care to a focus on care of the system that will accelerate improvement of healthcare quality and safety.

  6. How the Hilbert integral theorem inspired flow lines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winston, Roland; Jiang, Lun

    2017-09-01

    Nonimaging Optics has been shown to achieve the theoretical limits constrained only by thermodynamic principles. The designing principles of nonimaging optics allow a non-conventional way of thinking about and generating new optical devices. Compared to conventional imaging optics which rarely utilizes the framework of thermodynamic arguments, nonimaging optics chooses to map etendue instead of rays. This fundamental shift of design paradigm frees the optics design from ray based designs which heavily relies on error tolerance analysis. Instead, the underlying thermodynamic principles guide the nonimaging design to be naturally constructed for extended light source for illumination, non-tracking concentrators and sensors that require sharp cut-off angles. We argue in this article that such optical devices which has enabled a multitude of applications depends on probabilities, geometric flux field and radiative heat transfer while "optics" in the conventional sense recedes into the background.

  7. Proceedings of the Annual Sovereign Challenge Conference (5th): Regional Issues--Global Implications held 8-11 March 2010 in Key West, Florida

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-03-01

    world and Iran. • The combination of education and access to more information has influenced the thinking of the masses and has led many of the Iranian...were introduced and started to narrow the gap. The combination of education and access to greater information started to influence the thinking of...Marshalls and who investigate terrorism under federal authority. Of the 130, about 110 are in a New York City field office. Other officers are assigned

  8. Why use case studies rather than simulation-gaming techniques or library research?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcdonald, S. W.

    1981-01-01

    Method which present a student with a more challenging and true to life situation of needing to conduct research in a problem solving context--and not thinking about organization of format until research and thinking are complete are investigated. Simulation-gaming techniques which attempt to teach initiative and creativity that library research are used for this purpose. However, it is shown case studies provide the greatest opportunities to engage the students in problem solving situations in which they develop skills as researchers and writers.

  9. A Service Design Thinking Approach for Stakeholder-Centred eHealth.

    PubMed

    Lee, Eunji

    2016-01-01

    Studies have described the opportunities and challenges of applying service design techniques to health services, but empirical evidence on how such techniques can be implemented in the context of eHealth services is still lacking. This paper presents how a service design thinking approach can be applied for specification of an existing and new eHealth service by supporting evaluation of the current service and facilitating suggestions for the future service. We propose Service Journey Modelling Language and Service Journey Cards to engage stakeholders in the design of eHealth services.

  10. Widespread neural oscillations in the delta band dissociate rule convergence from rule divergence during creative idea generation.

    PubMed

    Boot, Nathalie; Baas, Matthijs; Mühlfeld, Elisabeth; de Dreu, Carsten K W; van Gaal, Simon

    2017-09-01

    Critical to creative cognition and performance is both the generation of multiple alternative solutions in response to open-ended problems (divergent thinking) and a series of cognitive operations that converges on the correct or best possible answer (convergent thinking). Although the neural underpinnings of divergent and convergent thinking are still poorly understood, several electroencephalography (EEG) studies point to differences in alpha-band oscillations between these thinking modes. We reason that, because most previous studies employed typical block designs, these pioneering findings may mainly reflect the more sustained aspects of creative processes that extend over longer time periods, and that still much is unknown about the faster-acting neural mechanisms that dissociate divergent from convergent thinking during idea generation. To this end, we developed a new event-related paradigm, in which we measured participants' tendency to implicitly follow a rule set by examples, versus breaking that rule, during the generation of novel names for specific categories (e.g., pasta, planets). This approach allowed us to compare the oscillatory dynamics of rule convergent and rule divergent idea generation and at the same time enabled us to measure spontaneous switching between these thinking modes on a trial-to-trial basis. We found that, relative to more systematic, rule convergent thinking, rule divergent thinking was associated with widespread decreases in delta band activity. Therefore, this study contributes to advancing our understanding of the neural underpinnings of creativity by addressing some methodological challenges that neuroscientific creativity research faces. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Analysis of Secondary School Students’ Algebraic Thinking and Math-Talk Learning Community to Help Students Learn

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nurhayati, D. M.; Herman, T.; Suhendra, S.

    2017-09-01

    This study aims to determine the difficulties of algebraic thinking ability of students in one of secondary school on quadrilateral subject and to describe Math-Talk Learning Community as the alternative way that can be done to overcome the difficulties of the students’ algebraic thinking ability. Research conducted by using quantitative approach with descriptive method. The population in this research was all students of that school and twenty three students as the sample that was chosen by purposive sampling technique. Data of algebraic thinking were collected through essay test. The results showed the percentage of achievement of students’ algebraic thinking’s indicators on three aspects: a) algebra as generalized arithmetic with the indicators (conceptually based computational strategies and estimation); b) algebra as the language of mathematics (meaning of variables, variable expressions and meaning of solution); c) algebra as a tool for functions and mathematical modelling (representing mathematical ideas using equations, tables, or words and generalizing patterns and rules in real-world contexts) is still low. It is predicted that because the secondary school students was not familiar with the abstract problem and they are still at a semi-concrete stage where the stage of cognitive development is between concrete and abstract. Based on the percentage achievement of each indicators, it can be concluded that the level of achievement of student’s mathematical communication using conventional learning is still low, so students’ algebraic thinking ability need to be improved.

  12. Innovation in Extraterrestrial Service Systems - A Challenge for Service Science

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bergner, David

    2010-01-01

    This presentation was prepared at the invitation of Professor Yukio Ohsawa, Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, for delivery at the International Workshop on Innovating Service Systems, sponsored by the Japanese Society of Artificial Intelligence (JSAI) as part of the JSAI Internation Symposium on AI, 2010. It offers several challenges for Service Science and Service Innovation. the goal of the presentation is to stimulate thinking about how service systems viII evolve in the future, as human society advances from its terrestrial base toward a permanent presence in space. First we will consider the complexity of the International Space Station (ISS) as it is today, with particular emphasis of its research facilities, and focus on a current challenge - to maximize the utilization of ISS research facilities for the benefit of society. After briefly reviewing the basic principles of Service Science, we will discuss the potential application of Service Innovation methodology to this challenge. Then we viII consider how game-changing technologies - in particular Synthetic Biology - could accelerate the pace of sociocultural evolution and consequently, the progression of human society into space. We will use this provocative vision to advance thinking about how the emerging field of Service Science, Management, and Engineering (SSME) might help us anticipate and better handle the challenges of this inevitable evolutionary process.

  13. Thinking styles of university deaf or hard of hearing students and hearing students.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Sanyin; Hu, Xiaozhong; Sin, Kuen Fung

    2016-08-01

    Although their university enrollment has increased dramatically over the past two decades, deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) students face great challenges and a tremendous environmental adjustment when entering a mainstream university. This study aims to facilitate DHH students' university success through exploring differences in thinking styles between DHH and hearing students from Art and Design academic disciplines in two universities in China. The Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II (TSI-R2) and its accommodated version were administered to 286 hearing and 256 DHH students, respectively. A demographic sheet was administered to all 542 participants. Results show that DHH students tended to score significantly lower on Type I thinking styles (legislative and global), Type II executive style, and Type III external style than hearing students. In addition, differences in Type I styles (liberal and hierarchical) and Type II executive style between DHH and hearing students were significantly influenced by institution. The present research indicates that DHH and hearing students have significant differences in their thinking styles. This yields implications for the higher education of DHH students, and for deaf schools preparing DHH students for university entry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Engineering the path to higher-order thinking in elementary education: A problem-based learning approach for STEM integration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rehmat, Abeera Parvaiz

    As we progress into the 21st century, higher-order thinking skills and achievement in science and math are essential to meet the educational requirement of STEM careers. Educators need to think of innovative ways to engage and prepare students for current and future challenges while cultivating an interest among students in STEM disciplines. An instructional pedagogy that can capture students' attention, support interdisciplinary STEM practices, and foster higher-order thinking skills is problem-based learning. Problem-based learning embedded in the social constructivist view of teaching and learning (Savery & Duffy, 1995) promotes self-regulated learning that is enhanced through exploration, cooperative social activity, and discourse (Fosnot, 1996). This quasi-experimental mixed methods study was conducted with 98 fourth grade students. The study utilized STEM content assessments, a standardized critical thinking test, STEM attitude survey, PBL questionnaire, and field notes from classroom observations to investigate the impact of problem-based learning on students' content knowledge, critical thinking, and their attitude towards STEM. Subsequently, it explored students' experiences of STEM integration in a PBL environment. The quantitative results revealed a significant difference between groups in regards to their content knowledge, critical thinking skills, and STEM attitude. From the qualitative results, three themes emerged: learning approaches, increased interaction, and design and engineering implementation. From the overall data set, students described the PBL environment to be highly interactive that prompted them to employ multiple approaches, including design and engineering to solve the problem.

  15. Solar Decathlon 2015 - Indigo Pine

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Blouin, Vincent

    The Solar Decathlon competition challenges students across the country to design and build a net-zero, market ready solar powered home. The bi-annual competition consists of ten contests that seek to balance the home on a scale of innovation. The ten contests were selected by to organizers to address all aspects of housing, including architecture, market appeal, engineering, communication, affordability, comfort, appliances, home life, commuting, and energy balance. Along with the criteria associated with the contests, the competition includes several design constraints that mirror those found in practical housing applications: including (but certainly not limited to) lot lines, building height, andmore » ADA accessibility. The Solar Decathlon 2015 was held at the Orange Country Great Park in Irvine, CA. The 2015 competition was Clemson University’s first entry into the Solar Decathlon and was a notable milestone in the continued development of a home, called Indigo Pine. From the beginning, the team reconsidered the notion of sustainability as related to both the design of a home and the competition itself. The designing and building process for the home reflects a process which seamlessly moves between thinking and making to develop a comprehensive design with a method and innovations that challenge the conventions of residential construction. This report is a summary of the activities of the Clemson University team during the two-year duration of the project leading to the participation in the 2015 Solar Decathlon competition in Irvine California.« less

  16. Depression and Anxiety: Exercise Eases Symptoms

    MedlinePlus

    ... and sticking with an exercise routine or regular physical activity can be a challenge. These steps can help: Identify what you enjoy doing. Figure out what type of physical activities you're most likely to do, and think ...

  17. EPA Science Matters Newsletter: Volume 2, Number 6

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA research has embraced sustainability as a necessary goal for the future of the planet, our economy, and our society. To achieve it will require asking different questions, thinking about challenges differently, and seeking innovative solutions.

  18. Motivation-focused thinking: Buffering against stress-related physical symptoms and depressive symptomology.

    PubMed

    Hamm, Jeremy M; Perry, Raymond P; Chipperfield, Judith G; Stewart, Tara L; Heckhausen, Jutta

    2015-01-01

    Developmental transitions are experienced throughout the life course and necessitate adapting to consequential and unpredictable changes that can undermine health. Our six-month study (n = 239) explored whether selective secondary control striving (motivation-focused thinking) protects against the elevated levels of stress and depressive symptoms increasingly common to young adults navigating the challenging school-to-university transition. Path analyses supplemented with tests of moderated mediation revealed that, for young adults who face challenging obstacles to goal attainment, selective secondary control indirectly reduced long-term stress-related physical and depressive symptoms through selective primary control and previously unexamined measures of discrete emotions. Results advance the existing literature by demonstrating that (a) selective secondary control has health benefits for vulnerable young adults and (b) these benefits are largely a consequence of the process variables proposed in Heckhausen et al.'s (2010) theory.

  19. The Evolution of Genetics: Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases.

    PubMed

    Singleton, Andrew; Hardy, John

    2016-06-15

    Genetic discoveries underlie the majority of the current thinking in neurodegenerative disease. This work has been driven by the significant gains made in identifying causal mutations; however, the translation of genetic causes of disease into pathobiological understanding remains a challenge. The application of a second generation of genetics methods allows the dissection of moderate and mild genetic risk factors for disease. This requires new thinking in two key areas: what constitutes proof of pathogenicity, and how do we translate these findings to biological understanding. Here we describe the progress and ongoing evolution in genetics. We describe a view that rejects the tradition that genetic proof has to be absolute before functional characterization and centers on a multi-dimensional approach integrating genetics, reference data, and functional work. We also argue that these challenges cannot be efficiently met by traditional hypothesis-driven methods but that high content system-wide efforts are required. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  20. Creative motivation: creative achievement predicts cardiac autonomic markers of effort during divergent thinking.

    PubMed

    Silvia, Paul J; Beaty, Roger E; Nusbaum, Emily C; Eddington, Kari M; Kwapil, Thomas R

    2014-10-01

    Executive approaches to creativity emphasize that generating creative ideas can be hard and requires mental effort. Few studies, however, have examined effort-related physiological activity during creativity tasks. Using motivational intensity theory as a framework, we examined predictors of effort-related cardiac activity during a creative challenge. A sample of 111 adults completed a divergent thinking task. Sympathetic (PEP and RZ) and parasympathetic (RSA and RMSSD) outcomes were assessed using impedance cardiography. As predicted, people with high creative achievement (measured with the Creative Achievement Questionnaire) showed significantly greater increases in sympathetic activity from baseline to task, reflecting higher effort. People with more creative achievements generated ideas that were significantly more creative, and creative performance correlated marginally with PEP and RZ. The results support the view that creative thought can be a mental challenge. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Exploding the Black Box: Personal Computing, the Notebook Battery Crisis, and Postindustrial Systems Thinking.

    PubMed

    Eisler, Matthew N

    Historians of science and technology have generally ignored the role of power sources in the development of consumer electronics. In this they have followed the predilections of historical actors. Research, development, and manufacturing of batteries has historically occurred at a social and intellectual distance from the research, development, and manufacturing of the devices they power. Nevertheless, power source technoscience should properly be understood as an allied yet estranged field of electronics. The separation between the fields has had important consequences for the design and manufacturing of mobile consumer electronics. This paper explores these dynamics in the co-construction of notebook batteries and computers. In so doing, it challenges assumptions of historians and industrial engineers and planners about the nature of computer systems in particular and the development of technological systems. The co-construction of notebook computers and batteries, and the occasional catastrophic failure of their compatibility, challenges systems thinking more generally.

  2. Perceived Challenges in Primary Literature in a Master's Class: Effects of Experience and Instruction.

    PubMed

    Lie, Richard; Abdullah, Christopher; He, Wenliang; Tour, Ella

    Primary literature offers rich opportunities to teach students how to "think like a scientist," but the challenges students face when they attempt to read research articles are not well understood. Here, we present an analysis of what master's students perceive as the most challenging aspects of engaging with primary literature. We examined 69 pairs of pre- and postcourse responses from students enrolled in a master's-level course that offered a structured analysis of primary literature. On the basis of these responses, we identified six categories of challenges. Before instruction, "techniques" and "experimental data" were the most frequently identified categories of challenges. The majority of difficulties students perceived in the primary literature corresponded to Bloom's lower-order cognitive skills. After instruction, "conclusions" were identified as the most difficult aspect of primary literature, and the frequency of challenges that corresponded to higher-order cognitive skills increased significantly among students who reported less experience with primary literature. These changes are consistent with a more competent perception of the primary literature, in which these students increasingly focus on challenges requiring critical thinking. Students' difficulties identified here can inform the design of instructional approaches aimed to teach students how to critically read scientific papers. © 2016 R. Lie, C. Abdullah, et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  3. In the Mind's Eye: Visual Thinkers, Gifted People with Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties, Computer Images and the Ironies of Creativity. Updated Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, Thomas G.

    This book presents research on how some innovations in computer visualization are making work and education more favorable to visual thinking. The book exposes many popular myths about conventional intelligence through an examination of the role of visual-spatial strengths and verbal weaknesses in the lives of 11 gifted individuals, including…

  4. Reimagine the Future: Innovation for Every Child. The State of the World's Children 2015. Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    UNICEF, 2014

    2014-01-01

    To mark the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, this edition of "The State of the World's Children" calls for brave and fresh thinking to address age-old problems that still affect the world's most disadvantaged children. The report is inspired by the work of innovators around the world--who are pushing…

  5. Conventional nuclear strategy and the American doctrine of counterforce

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    David, C.P.

    Debate over nuclear weapons still lingers and one cause of this trend, as suggested by this thesis, is the rise of conventional nuclear strategy or, in other words, the attempt by the US government to apply through the counterforce doctrine a conventional weapons strategy in an age of nuclear weapons. That debate is analyzed, as well as the thinking underlining conventional nuclear strategy, and explains why conventionalization has become popular in US nuclear weapons policies. A feature of the American nuclear debate has been the unresolved tension between two approaches to nuclear strategy, namely: the apocalyptic approach and the conventionalmore » approach. The confrontation between these camps has resulted over the years in a gradual but steady erosion of the strategic consensus to the point where, under the Reagan administration, the conventional camp appears to have emerged as a clear winner from the nuclear debate. The attractiveness of conventional nuclear strategy can be attributed to the influence and working of an American style of nuclear strategy, i.e., a specific approach to the phenomena of nuclear weapons. The author concludes that the conventional and official strategic view that nuclear problems can be solved by technological progress may, in fact, contribute to worsen rather than improve the thermonuclear condition of the world.« less

  6. What kind of leadership does integrated care need?

    PubMed

    Kelley-Patterson, Deirdre

    2012-01-01

    Primary care clinicians and clinical commissioners are the current focus for much leadership investment and development. In this article I propose that we need to look beyond traditional thinking about effective leader behaviour and conventional approaches to leader development based on this thinking. The paper identifies some of the lessons that can be learnt from both the current academic discussion of collaborative leadership, and from an analysis of successes and failures of leadership within the NHS. Two leadership strategies are considered: the development of communities of practice and the use of connected mini-transformations to generate wider system transformation. In a period of systems change, with potential for conflict between providers and commissioners, these strategies are helpful in encouraging the 'mindfulness' that is needed to ensure integration across the complex landscape of healthcare in London.

  7. A Consideration on the Future Direction of Japanese Educational System About Fostering Human Resources for the Global Society

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kubota, Shusuke; Shimura, Tsutomu; Takahashi, Koji

    The lectures are taken, making use of the textbook of the same contents, for high school students in Japan, students at Yamagata University and at Korea Maritime University in Korea. I’ ll find the similarity and difference, by comparing vertical and horizontal relations among three groups. As a result, I can find the directionality of cultivating human resources of doing well in the global society. I think there is “Matrix Thinking Frame” as one of the effective countermeasures for fostering men of ability. It is possible to part from conventional passiveness type education, according to planning and practicing one’ s “Life Management Plan” by using this system. The case where one’ s capability has been extended appears in students, as above mentioned.

  8. Multiple choice questions can be designed or revised to challenge learners' critical thinking.

    PubMed

    Tractenberg, Rochelle E; Gushta, Matthew M; Mulroney, Susan E; Weissinger, Peggy A

    2013-12-01

    Multiple choice (MC) questions from a graduate physiology course were evaluated by cognitive-psychology (but not physiology) experts, and analyzed statistically, in order to test the independence of content expertise and cognitive complexity ratings of MC items. Integration of higher order thinking into MC exams is important, but widely known to be challenging-perhaps especially when content experts must think like novices. Expertise in the domain (content) may actually impede the creation of higher-complexity items. Three cognitive psychology experts independently rated cognitive complexity for 252 multiple-choice physiology items using a six-level cognitive complexity matrix that was synthesized from the literature. Rasch modeling estimated item difficulties. The complexity ratings and difficulty estimates were then analyzed together to determine the relative contributions (and independence) of complexity and difficulty to the likelihood of correct answers on each item. Cognitive complexity was found to be statistically independent of difficulty estimates for 88 % of items. Using the complexity matrix, modifications were identified to increase some item complexities by one level, without affecting the item's difficulty. Cognitive complexity can effectively be rated by non-content experts. The six-level complexity matrix, if applied by faculty peer groups trained in cognitive complexity and without domain-specific expertise, could lead to improvements in the complexity targeted with item writing and revision. Targeting higher order thinking with MC questions can be achieved without changing item difficulties or other test characteristics, but this may be less likely if the content expert is left to assess items within their domain of expertise.

  9. Program-Level Variation in Cadet Outcomes at the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-12-01

    ChalleNGe is to help “young people improve their self - esteem , self -confidence, life skills , education levels, and employment potential” [2...discipline), whether he thinks the development of cognitive or noncognitive skills is more important, and how often the cadets communicate with...components: 1. Leadership/followership 2. Responsible citizenship 3. Service to community 4. Life-coping skills 5. Physical fitness 6. Health and

  10. The Use of Video Self-Monitoring Embedded with Mentorship as a Medium to Enhance Experiential Learning Opportunities and Promote Critical Thinking Skills for Educators and Health Science Professionals Working with Children with Autism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slim-Topdjian, Lina; Pinto Zipp, Genevieve

    2016-01-01

    The increased prevalence of autism has created an increased challenge for teachers to incorporate specialized teaching strategies to address the unique educational and behavioral challenges facing children diagnosed with autism. Providing teachers with educational training opportunities will promote such learning. In the academic world,…

  11. WHO FCTC as a Pioneering and Learning Instrument Comment on "The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?"

    PubMed

    Puska, Pekka

    2017-05-23

    The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a unique global health instrument, since it is in the health field the only instrument that is international law. After the 10 years of its existence an Independent Expert Group assessed the impact of the FCTC using all available data and visiting a number of countries interviewing different stakeholders. It is quite clear that the Treaty has acted as a strong catalyst and framework for national actions and that remarkable progress in global tobacco control can be seen. At the same time FCTC has moved tobacco control in countries from a pure health issue to a legal responsibility of the whole government, and on the international level created stronger interagency collaboration. The assessment also showed the many challenges. The spread of tobacco use, as well as of other risk lifestyles, is related to globalization. FCTC is a pioneering example of global action to counteract the negative social consequences of globalization. A convention is not an easy instrument, but the FCTC has undoubtedly sparked thinking and development of other stronger public health instruments and of needed governance structures. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

  12. Hoshin Kanri: a technique for strategic quality management.

    PubMed

    Tennant, C; Roberts, P A

    2000-01-01

    This paper describes a technique for Strategic Quality Management (SQM), known as Hoshin Kanri, which has been operated as a management system in many Japanese companies since the 1960s. It represents a core aspect of Japanese companies' management systems, and is stated as: the means by which the overall control system and Total Quality Management (TQM) are deployed. Hoshin Kanri is not particularly unique in its concept of establishing and tracking individual goals and objectives, but the manner in which the objectives and the means to achieve them are developed and deployed is. The problem with applying the concept of Strategic Quality Management (SQM) using Hoshin Kanri, is that it can tend to challenge the traditional authoritarian strategic planning models, which have become the paradigms of modern business. Yet Hoshin Kanri provides an appropriate tool for declaration of the strategic vision for the business while integrating goals and targets in a single holistic model. There have been various adaptations of Hoshin Kanri to align the technique to Western thinking and management approaches, yet outside Japan its significance has gone largely unreported. It is proposed that Hoshin Kanri is an effective methodology for SQM, which has a number of benefits over the more conventional planning techniques. The benefits of Hoshin Kanri as a tool for Strategic Quality Management (SQM) compared to conventional planning systems include: integration of strategic objectives with tactical daily management, the application of the plan-do-check-act cycle to business process management, parallel planning and execution methodology, company wide approach, improvements in communication, increased consensus and buy-in to goal setting, and cross-functional-management integration.

  13. 'Thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant?' Transcending the accuracy-inaccuracy dualism in prejudice and stereotyping research.

    PubMed

    Dixon, John

    2017-03-01

    Research on prejudice seeks to understand and transform inaccurate beliefs about others. Indeed, historically such research has offered a cautionary tale of the biased nature of human cognition. Recently, however, this view has been challenged by work defending the essential rationality of intergroup perception, a theme captured controversially in Jussim and colleagues' (2009) research on the 'unbearable accuracy of stereotyping'. The present paper argues that in its own terms the 'rationalist turn' in socio-cognitive research on stereotyping presents an important challenge to the prejudice tradition, raising troubling questions about its conceptual and empirical foundations. However, it also argues for the necessity of transcending those terms. By focusing on the correspondence between individual beliefs and the supposedly 'objective' characteristics of others, we neglect the historical and discursive practices through which the social realities that we 'perceive' are actively constructed and institutionalized. We mask their social origins, contested and perspectival nature, relativity, and relationship to wider structures of power. By implication, moving beyond the Allportian perspective that has dominated both the prejudice tradition and the emerging stereotype accuracy paradigm, we may now need to prioritize other kinds of questions. Reversing Allport's famous definition of prejudice, it may now be time to ask: How, and with what consequences, does 'thinking ill of others' become sufficiently warranted? How does such thinking become part of institutionalized relations of power and an accepted way of perceiving, evaluating and treating others? What should social psychologists be doing to challenge this state of affairs? © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  14. A Proposal for a Research-based Constructivist Physics-and-Pedagogy Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zirbel, Esther

    2006-12-01

    This poster proposes a research-based science-and-pedagogy course that will combine the learning of fundamental physics concepts with methods of how to teach these concepts. Entitled “Understanding the Cosmos: From Antiquity to the Modern Day,” the course will explore how people learn science concepts through the ages, and from childhood through adulthood. This course will use the historical-constructivist approach to illustrate how our understanding of scientific phenomena advanced as we progressed from simple 2-dimensional thinking (starting with the flat Earth concept) to 3-D thinking (learning about the structure of the solar system) to 4-D thinking (understanding space-time and theories about the Big Bang). While transitioning from Impetus to Aristotelian to Newtonian to Einsteinian thinking, students will learn the essence of scientific thinking and inquiry. The overall goal of this course is to excite students in the process of scientific discovery, help them develop scientific reasoning skills, and provide them with fulfilling experiences of truly understanding science concepts. This will be done by employing active engagement techniques (e.g., peer tutoring, Socratic dialogue, and think/pair/share methods) and by challenging students to articulate their thoughts clearly and persuasively. This course could be of value for anybody wanting to enter the teaching profession or simply for anybody who would like to deepen their science understanding.

  15. 3 CFR 8918 - Proclamation 8918 of December 17, 2012. Wright Brothers Day, 2012

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... their lifelong dream. Like so many Americans before and after them, these two men achieved the... mother, Susan—a gifted mathematician in her own right who challenged her children to think big and dream...

  16. How to End Colonial Domination of Black America: A Challenge to Black Psychologists

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, Joseph Hannibal, III

    1970-01-01

    Argues that Black people must engage in a therapeutic struggle which stresses Afro-American history and nationalism, and that Black professionals must shed narrow confines of academic disciplines and think as social scientists. (KG)

  17. Common Weight Loss Challenges

    MedlinePlus

    ... think it’s safe for him to be playing outdoors.” Don’t let safety concerns keep your child ... will have the opportunity to discuss the potential benefits of the operation, plus get your ... (Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics) The information ...

  18. Outside track advances. Think smaller and rural hospitals are hopelessly behind in satisfying the meaningful-use criteria under ARRA-HITECH? Don't be so sure.

    PubMed

    Hagland, Mark

    2010-04-01

    Smaller and rural hospitals face particular challenges in terms of matching the needed financial and human resources to the task of achieving meaningful use. Nonetheless, some smaller and rural hospitals have made surprising progress towards meeting the 2011 meaningful use criteria. Data reporting requirements under meaningful use will be particularly challenging for this type of hospital; engaging clinicians, especially physicians, in coming together to meet the challenges early on, will be critical to success.

  19. Bleak Present, Bright Future: Online Episodic Future Thinking, Scarcity, Delay Discounting, and Food Demand.

    PubMed

    Sze, Yan Yan; Stein, Jeffrey S; Bickel, Warren K; Paluch, Rocco A; Epstein, Leonard H

    2017-07-01

    Obesity is associated with steep discounting of the future and increased food reinforcement. Episodic future thinking (EFT), a type of prospective thinking, has been observed to reduce delay discounting (DD) and improve dietary decision making. In contrast, negative income shock (i.e., abrupt transitions to poverty) has been shown to increase discounting and may worsen dietary decision-making. Scalability of EFT training and protective effects of EFT against simulated negative income shock on DD and demand for food were assessed. In two experiments we showed online-administered EFT reliably reduced DD. Furthermore, EFT reduced DD and demand for fast foods even when challenged by negative income shock. Our findings suggest EFT is a scalable intervention that has implications for improving public health by reducing discounting of the future and demand for high energy dense food.

  20. An initial framework for the language of higher-order thinking mathematics practices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Staples, Megan E.; Truxaw, Mary P.

    2012-09-01

    This article presents an examination of the language demands of cognitively demanding tasks and proposes an initial framework for the language demands of higher-order mathematics thinking practices. We articulate four categories for this framework: language of generalisation, language of comparison, language of proportional reasoning, and language of analysing impact. These categories were developed out of our collaborative work to design and implement higher-order thinking tasks with a group of Grade 9 (14- and 15-year-olds) teachers teaching in a linguistically diverse setting; analyses of student work samples on these tasks; and our knowledge of the literature. We describe each type of language demand and then analyse student work in each category to reveal linguistic challenges facing students as they engage these mathematical tasks. Implications for teaching and professional development are discussed.

  1. The future of poultry science research: things I think I think.

    PubMed

    Taylor, R L

    2009-06-01

    Much poultry research progress has occurred over the first century of the Poultry Science Association. During that time, specific problems have been solved and much basic biological knowledge has been gained. Scientific discovery has exceeded its integration into foundation concepts. Researchers need to be involved in the public's development of critical thinking skills to enable discernment of fact versus fiction. Academic, government, and private institutions need to hire the best people. Issues of insufficient research funding will be remedied by a combination of strategies rather than by a single cure. Scientific advocacy for poultry-related issues is critical to success. Two other keys to the future are funding for higher-risk projects, whose outcome is truly unknown, and specific allocations for new investigators. Diligent, ongoing efforts by poultry scientists will enable progress beyond the challenges.

  2. Research utilisation and critical thinking among newly graduated nurses: predictors for research use. A quantitative cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Wangensteen, Sigrid; Johansson, Inger S; Björkström, Monica E; Nordström, Gun

    2011-09-01

    The aim was to describe research utilisation among newly graduated nurses and to explore critical thinking dispositions and other individual and contextual factors as possible predictors for research use. Nurses are expected to be research users, and variations in research utilisation are explained by individual and contextual factors. To our knowledge, critical thinking dispositions have not earlier been explored as predictors for research use. A cross-sectional design was chosen. Data collection was carried out from October 2006 to April 2007 using the Research Utilization Questionnaire (RUQ) and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). The response rate was 33% (n =617). Pearson's chi-square test and regression analyses were used for statistical calculations. The respondents reported a positive attitude towards research, but only 24% (n = 148) were defined as research users. A significantly higher proportion of research users reported high critical thinking scores. Critical thinking explained 20% of the variance in attitude towards research and 11% of the variance in research use. Availability and support to implement research findings was the second strongest predictor for research use. Critical thinking, a significant predictor for attitude towards research and for the use of research, should be recognised and strengthened in nursing education and clinical practice. Contextual factors seem to be important for newly graduated nurses' use of research. Nurse leaders play an important role in nurturing newly graduated nurses' critical thinking and assisting them in transferring their positive attitude towards research into research use. Nurse educators play a significant role in supporting, challenging and supervising nursing students to be critical thinkers and strong believers in research utilisation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. Why Do You Believe in God? Relationships between Religious Belief, Analytic Thinking, Mentalizing and Moral Concern

    PubMed Central

    Jack, Anthony Ian; Friedman, Jared Parker; Boyatzis, Richard Eleftherios; Taylor, Scott Nolan

    2016-01-01

    Prior work has established that analytic thinking is associated with disbelief in God, whereas religious and spiritual beliefs have been positively linked to social and emotional cognition. However, social and emotional cognition can be subdivided into a number of distinct dimensions, and some work suggests that analytic thinking is in tension with some aspects of social-emotional cognition. This leaves open two questions. First, is belief linked to social and emotional cognition in general, or a specific dimension in particular? Second, does the negative relationship between belief and analytic thinking still hold after relationships with social and emotional cognition are taken into account? We report eight hypothesis-driven studies which examine these questions. These studies are guided by a theoretical model which focuses on the distinct social and emotional processing deficits associated with autism spectrum disorders (mentalizing) and psychopathy (moral concern). To our knowledge no other study has investigated both of these dimensions of social and emotion cognition alongside analytic thinking. We find that religious belief is robustly positively associated with moral concern (4 measures), and that at least part of the negative association between belief and analytic thinking (2 measures) can be explained by a negative correlation between moral concern and analytic thinking. Using nine different measures of mentalizing, we found no evidence of a relationship between mentalizing and religious or spiritual belief. These findings challenge the theoretical view that religious and spiritual beliefs are linked to the perception of agency, and suggest that gender differences in religious belief can be explained by differences in moral concern. These findings are consistent with the opposing domains hypothesis, according to which brain areas associated with moral concern and analytic thinking are in tension. PMID:27008093

  4. Why Do You Believe in God? Relationships between Religious Belief, Analytic Thinking, Mentalizing and Moral Concern.

    PubMed

    Jack, Anthony Ian; Friedman, Jared Parker; Boyatzis, Richard Eleftherios; Taylor, Scott Nolan

    2016-01-01

    Prior work has established that analytic thinking is associated with disbelief in God, whereas religious and spiritual beliefs have been positively linked to social and emotional cognition. However, social and emotional cognition can be subdivided into a number of distinct dimensions, and some work suggests that analytic thinking is in tension with some aspects of social-emotional cognition. This leaves open two questions. First, is belief linked to social and emotional cognition in general, or a specific dimension in particular? Second, does the negative relationship between belief and analytic thinking still hold after relationships with social and emotional cognition are taken into account? We report eight hypothesis-driven studies which examine these questions. These studies are guided by a theoretical model which focuses on the distinct social and emotional processing deficits associated with autism spectrum disorders (mentalizing) and psychopathy (moral concern). To our knowledge no other study has investigated both of these dimensions of social and emotion cognition alongside analytic thinking. We find that religious belief is robustly positively associated with moral concern (4 measures), and that at least part of the negative association between belief and analytic thinking (2 measures) can be explained by a negative correlation between moral concern and analytic thinking. Using nine different measures of mentalizing, we found no evidence of a relationship between mentalizing and religious or spiritual belief. These findings challenge the theoretical view that religious and spiritual beliefs are linked to the perception of agency, and suggest that gender differences in religious belief can be explained by differences in moral concern. These findings are consistent with the opposing domains hypothesis, according to which brain areas associated with moral concern and analytic thinking are in tension.

  5. Accelerating the carbon cycle: the ethics of enhanced weathering.

    PubMed

    Lawford-Smith, H; Currie, A

    2017-04-01

    Enhanced weathering, in comparison to other geoengineering measures, creates the possibility of a reduced cost, reduced impact way of decreasing atmospheric carbon, with positive knock-on effects such as decreased oceanic acidity. We argue that ethical concerns have a place alongside empirical, political and social factors as we consider how to best respond to the critical challenge that anthropogenic climate change poses. We review these concerns, considering the ethical issues that arise (or would arise) in the large-scale deployment of enhanced weathering. We discuss post-implementation scenarios, failures of collective action, the distribution of risk and externalities and redress for damage. We also discuss issues surrounding 'dirty hands' (taking conventionally immoral action to avoid having to take action that is even worse), whether enhanced weathering research might present a moral hazard, the importance of international governance and the notion that the implementation of large-scale enhanced weathering would reveal problematic hubris. Ethics and scientific research interrelate in complex ways: some ethical considerations caution against research and implementation, while others encourage them. Indeed, the ethical perspective encourages us to think more carefully about how, and what types of, geoengineering should be researched and implemented. © 2017 The Author(s).

  6. Low-Cost Approach to the Design and Fabrication of a LOX/RP-1 Injector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shadoan, Michael D.; Sparks, Dave L.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has designed, built, and is currently testing Fastrac, a liquid oxygen (LOX)/RP-1 fueled 60K-lb thrust class rocket engine. One facet of Fastrac, which makes it unique is that it is the first large-scale engine designed and developed in accordance with the Agency's mandated "faster, better, cheaper" (FBC) program policy. The engine was developed under the auspices of MSFC's Low Cost Boost Technology office. Development work for the main injector actually began in 1993 in subscale form. In 1996, work began on the full-scale unit approximately 1 year prior to initiation of the engine development program. In order to achieve the value goals established by the FBC policy, a review of traditional design practices was necessary. This internal reevaluation would ultimately challenge more conventional methods of material selection. design process, and fabrication techniques. The effort was highly successful. This "new way" of thinking has resulted in an innovative injector design, one with reduced complexity and significantly lower cost. Application of lessons learned during this effort to new or existing designs can have a similar effect on costs and future program successes.

  7. Intuition versus rational thinking: psychological challenges in radiology and a potential solution.

    PubMed

    Marcovici, Peter; Blume-Marcovici, Amy

    2013-01-01

    Humans think overwhelmingly intuitively rather than rationally. We perceive what is apparent to us and attribute differences in perception to the fault of others. Many cognitive biases are unconscious, and we assume they affect others more than ourselves. Radiologists should understand these limitations and seek methods to address them. A potential method is the checklist, which has been used to improve consistency and quality both outside and within medicine. Structured reporting can serve as a checklist and, although promising, has yet to widely demonstrate benefits. Copyright © 2013 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. What were they thinking? Men who murder an intimate partner.

    PubMed

    Dobash, R Emerson; Dobash, Russell P

    2011-01-01

    The focus is on cognitions of men who murder an intimate partner and includes thinking prior to and after the murder. Based on the Murder in Britain Study, the qualitative accounts of various professionals included in the case-files of 104 men convicted of murdering a woman partner are used to examine beliefs about intimate relationships, orientations toward violence and previous violence to the victim, as well as subsequent denials, rationalizations, and justifications. We conclude that these and other cognitions are important elements of intimate partner murder and must be challenged and changed in efforts to eliminate nonlethal abuse and murder.

  9. Accommodation in the formal world of mathematical thinking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stewart, Sepideh; Schmidt, Ralf

    2017-11-01

    In this study, we examined a mathematician and one of his students' teaching journals and thought processes concurrently as the class was moving towards the proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Galois Theory. We employed Tall's framework of three worlds of mathematical thinking as well as Piaget's notion of accommodation to theoretically study the narratives. This paper reveals the pedagogical challenges of proving an elegant theory as the events unfolded. Although the mathematician was conscious of the students' abilities as he carefully made the path accessible, the disparity between the mind of the mathematician and the student became apparent.

  10. Beyond-the-Box Thinking on Future War: The Art and Science of Unrestricted Warfare

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-04-01

    Studies Institute, US Army War College, 2008. Mattis , James N., and Frank Hoffman. “Future Warfare: The Rise of Hybrid Warfare.” Proceedings...nanotechnologies will augment the current bio -chemical capabilities, moving the battlefield into a microscopic arena. As seen before, the traditional American way...Military Trans-military Non-military Atomic Warfare Diplomatic Warfare Financial Warfare Conventional Warfare Network Warfare Trade Warfare Bio

  11. The Dreadnought Paradox: An Argument for an Expanded Submarine-Based Conventional Deterrent to Counter A2/AD in the Pacific Theater

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-17

    access to the region.43 In response, it is hard to think of a downside to deploying a capability that counters China’s A2/AD center of gravity. Forcing... agreeable would be disastrous to America’s alliances. (Cheng Li and Lucy Xu, “Chinese Enthusiasm and American Cynicism Over the “New Type of Great Power

  12. Doing "Good Work": Negotiating Possibilities in Ethical Challenges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burge, Elizabeth J.

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the author takes a look at how reflective and courageous practitioners show their critical and constructive thinking for handling the intellectual and interpersonal complexities of ethical analysis. The author also discusses six lessons practitioners need to learn.

  13. I Am. Therefore, I Think.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thurber, Christopher A.

    2003-01-01

    A review of groundbreaking studies in child development by Piaget, Vygotsky, Baillargeon, Premack, and Woodruff suggests that the ideal learning environment would need to have developmentally appropriate and challenging activities; nurturing experts; plenty of social interaction; and opportunities for problem solving, thoughtful reflection, and…

  14. How To Stay Stuck in the Wrong Career.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ibarra, Herminia

    2002-01-01

    An effective midlife career change is challenging to bring about successfully. Identity and its relationship to work are key factors. A three-point plan to a successful career change includes the following: know thyself, consult trusted advisors, and think big. (JOW)

  15. The application of heterogeneous cluster grouping to reflective writing for medical humanities literature study to enhance students' empathy, critical thinking, and reflective writing.

    PubMed

    Liao, Hung-Chang; Wang, Ya-Huei

    2016-09-02

    To facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and to make connections between patients' diseases and their social/cultural contexts, the study examined whether the use of heterogeneous cluster grouping in reflective writing for medical humanities literature acquisition could have positive effects on medical university students in terms of empathy, critical thinking, and reflective writing. A 15-week quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate the learning outcomes. After conducting cluster algorithms, heterogeneous learning clusters (experimental group; n = 43) and non-heterogeneous learning clusters (control group; n = 43) were derived for a medical humanities literature study. Before and after the intervention, an Empathy Scale in Patient Care (ES-PC), a critical thinking disposition assessment (CTDA-R), and a reflective writing test were administered to both groups. The findings showed that on the empathy scale, significant differences in the "behavioral empathy," "affective empathy," and overall sections existed between the post-test mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group, but such differences did not exist in "intelligent empathy." Regarding critical thinking, there were significant differences in "systematicity and analyticity," "skepticism and well-informed," "maturity and skepticism," and overall sections. As for reflective writing, significant differences existed in "ideas," "voice and point of view," "critical thinking and representation," "depth of reflection on personal growth," and overall sections, but not in "focus and context structure" and "language and conventions." This study outlined an alternative for using heterogeneous cluster grouping in reflective writing about medical humanities literature to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation to provide more humanizing medical care.

  16. Teaching systems thinking to 4th and 5th graders using Environmental Dashboard display technology

    PubMed Central

    Clark, Shane; Frantz, Cindy M.; Roose, Deborah; Ginn, Joel; Rosenberg Daneri, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Tackling complex environmental challenges requires the capacity to understand how relationships and interactions between parts result in dynamic behavior of whole systems. There has been convincing research that these “systems thinking” skills can be learned. However, there is little research on methods for teaching these skills to children or assessing their impact. The Environmental Dashboard is a technology that uses “sociotechnical” feedback–information feedback designed to affect thought and behavior. Environmental Dashboard (ED) combines real-time information on community resource use with images and words that reflect pro-environmental actions of community members. Prior research indicates that ED supports the development of systems thinking in adults. To assess its impact on children, the technology was installed in a primary school and children were passively exposed to ED displays. This resulted in no measurable impact on systems thinking skills. The next stage of this research examined the impact of actively integrating ED into lessons on electricity in 4th and 5th grade. This active integration enhanced both content-related systems thinking skills and content retention. PMID:28448586

  17. Student resources for learning physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hammer, David

    2015-04-01

    Careful observations of learners' reasoning belie simple characterizations of their knowledge or abilities: Students who appear to lack understanding or abilities at one moment show evidence of them at another. Detecting this variability generally requires close examination of what and how students are thinking, moment-to-moment, which makes research difficult. But the findings challenge unitary accounts of intelligence, stages of development, and misconceptions. Joe Redish and others have been working from a more complex theoretical framework of innumerable, fine-grained cognitive structures we call ``resources.'' They are, roughly, ways of thinking people have that may apply or not in any particular moment. (Thinking about energy, for example, may involve resources for understanding location or conservation, or oscillations in time, or differential symmetry.) The variability we observe in student reasoning reflects variability in resource activation. Resources are to models of mind what partons used to be to models of hadrons: We know we should be thinking of entities and dynamics at a smaller scale than we've been considering, even if we don't know their particular properties. Understanding minds in this way has profound implications for research and for teaching.

  18. Overcoming the Challenges of Co-creation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pandya, R.; Udu-gama, N.; Goodwin, M.; Otellini, P.

    2016-12-01

    There is growing interest in co-creation, especially for community-related issues like climate change, resilience, pollution, and environmental justice. Nevertheless, co-creation is still not mainstream practice in either geosciences or the world of decision-makers. This presents many challenges. On the science side, challenges include a paucity of training opportunities, lack of funding for co-creation, difficulty publishing or otherwise getting credit for the effort, and a perceived lack of prestige compared to theoretical research. On the community side, parallel challenges include a lack of experience working with scientists or thinking about geoscience's relevance to community issues, tight budgets and competing priorities, the need for outputs beyond publications, and the difficulty including science among a range of factors. Additionally, scientists and community leaders often work across public and private sectors and must navigate different approaches to data, privacy, and accountability. We'll use this session to explore opportunities to overcome the challenges of co-creation. Systems thinking suggests a range of approaches: enabling individuals, reducing specific challenges, changing the relationship between the elements of the systems, and changing the goals or mindsets of the systems - each more powerful than the last. For example, mentoring and coaching enables individuals, and pro-bono work eases the challenge of getting professional credit. New modes of output, like plain language abstracts, change the relationship between publications and other outputs. We can work on changing mindsets by publicizing and celebrating individual successes. With more effort and impact, we can build collaborations in the collective impact model, where we bring scientific and community organizations together around a common agenda and shared measurement. Building on these examples, we will use this session to collect strategies and opportunities from all participants.

  19. The relation between intrapersonal and interpersonal staff behaviour towards clients with ID and challenging behaviour: a validation study of the Staff-Client Interactive Behaviour Inventory.

    PubMed

    Willems, A P A M; Embregts, P J C M; Stams, G J J M; Moonen, X M H

    2010-01-01

    Interpersonal staff behaviour is one of the instigating factors associated with challenging behaviour in clients with intellectual disabilities (ID). There are several studies focusing on the influence of intrapersonal staff characteristics - such as beliefs, attributions and emotional reactions - on staff behaviour. Little is known, however, about interpersonal staff behaviour itself. This study describes the development and validation of the Staff-Client Interactive Behaviour Inventory (SCIBI), measuring both intrapersonal and interpersonal staff behaviour in response to challenging behaviour in clients with ID. A total of 292 staff members, employed in residential and community services, completed the SCIBI for 34 clients with ID and challenging behaviour. Confirmatory factor analysis of a seven-factor model - with assertive control, hostile, friendly and support-seeking interpersonal behaviour; proactive thinking; self-reflection; and critical expressed emotion as reliable factors - showed an exact fit to the data, indicating construct validity and reliability of the SCIBI. A series of multilevel regression analyses showed higher age of the client to be negatively associated with assertive control. Job experience, level of education, type and sex of staff predicted interpersonal behaviour. Also, intrapersonal staff behaviour, including critical expressed emotion, proactive thinking and self-reflection, predicted interpersonal behaviour. The SCIBI can be used to identify staff intrapersonal and interpersonal behaviour towards clients with ID and challenging behaviour. Results obtained with the SCIBI can provide new directions for individual client treatment plans and staff training programmes.

  20. Use of Multi-Response Format Test in the Assessment of Medical Students' Critical Thinking Ability.

    PubMed

    Mafinejad, Mahboobeh Khabaz; Arabshahi, Seyyed Kamran Soltani; Monajemi, Alireza; Jalili, Mohammad; Soltani, Akbar; Rasouli, Javad

    2017-09-01

    To evaluate students critical thinking skills effectively, change in assessment practices is must. The assessment of a student's ability to think critically is a constant challenge, and yet there is considerable debate on the best assessment method. There is evidence that the intrinsic nature of open and closed-ended response questions is to measure separate cognitive abilities. To assess critical thinking ability of medical students by using multi-response format of assessment. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a group of 159 undergraduate third-year medical students. All the participants completed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) consisting of 34 multiple-choice questions to measure general critical thinking skills and a researcher-developed test that combines open and closed-ended questions. A researcher-developed 48-question exam, consisting of 8 short-answers and 5 essay questions, 19 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ), and 16 True-False (TF) questions, was used to measure critical thinking skills. Correlation analyses were performed using Pearson's coefficient to explore the association between the total scores of tests and subtests. One hundred and fifty-nine students participated in this study. The sample comprised 81 females (51%) and 78 males (49%) with an age range of 20±2.8 years (mean 21.2 years). The response rate was 64.1%. A significant positive correlation was found between types of questions and critical thinking scores, of which the correlations of MCQ (r=0.82) and essay questions (r=0.77) were strongest. The significant positive correlations between multi-response format test and CCTST's subscales were seen in analysis, evaluation, inference and inductive reasoning. Unlike CCTST subscales, multi-response format test have weak correlation with CCTST total score (r=0.45, p=0.06). This study highlights the importance of considering multi-response format test in the assessment of critical thinking abilities of medical students by using both open and closed-ended response questions.

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