ERIC Number: EJ1127177
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Feb
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: N/A
Bringing CASE in from the Cold: The Teaching and Learning of Thinking
Oliver, Mary; Venville, Grady
Research in Science Education, v47 n1 p49-66 Feb 2017
"Thinking Science" is a 2-year program of professional development for teachers and thinking lessons for students in junior high school science classes. This paper presents research on the effects of "Thinking Science" on students' levels of cognition in Australia. The research is timely, with a general capability focused on critical thinking in the newly implemented F-10 curriculum in Australia. The design of the research was a quasi-experiment with pre- and post-intervention cognitive tests conducted with participating students (n = 655) from nine cohorts in seven high schools. Findings showed significant cognitive gains compared with an age-matched control group over the length of the program. Noteworthy is a correlation between baseline cognitive score and school Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). We argue that the teaching of thinking be brought into the mainstream arena of educational discourse and that the principles from evidence-based programs such as "Thinking Science" be universally adopted.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Secondary School Teachers, Junior High School Students, Faculty Development, Science Instruction, Secondary School Science, Thinking Skills, Critical Thinking, Quasiexperimental Design, Pretests Posttests, Cognitive Tests, Control Groups, Comparative Analysis, Correlation, Science Programs, Program Effectiveness
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A