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Teaching Thinking in Subject-Specific Contexts to Disadvantaged South African Communities.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Teaching Thinking in Subject-Specific Contexts to Disadvantaged South African Communities.
Language: English
Authors: Mehl, Merlin C., Lochhead, Jack
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 1987
Document Type: Reports - Research
Speeches/Meeting Papers
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, College Science, Foreign Countries, Higher Education, Physics, Process Education, Science Curriculum, Science Education, Science Instruction, Secondary Education, Secondary School Science
Geographic Terms: South Africa
Abstract: This document characterizes South African education as resulting in large numbers of students who are poorly equipped to meet academic requirements of first-year university courses, especially in science related disciplines. It reports on a study designed to investigate the learning problems of disadvantaged South Africans in an attempt to identify approaches that can be developed to help alleviate them. The study focused primarily upon the difficulties experienced by such students in dealing with kinematics sections of a first-year physics course. A person-to-person interview technique was used as the students worked through some typical kinematics problems. The analysis of the interviews yielded a list of deficient cognitive functions and nine instruments were developed to compensate for these deficiencies; the strategy required for the use of a specific concept was developed as the concept was taught. This new approach was first used in the Physics 1B class of the University of the Western Cape (Capetown, South Africa), the class being divided into Test and Control groups. Results for the use of the concepts showed a 30% difference in favor of the test group and also showed a high level of enthusiasm for the experiment on the part of the test group students. The study concluded that there seem to be three approaches to teaching thinking: (1) teaching thinking free of specific content; (2) integrating thinking skills into content material by providing thinking strategies to give more meaningful access to the content of a discipline; and (3) determining the requisite thought processes for understanding and using concepts and laws, and then making these explicit in the development of the relevant curriculum materials. This paper indicates what may be attempted in the third area. (TW)
Entry Date: 1988
Accession Number: ED291572
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
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PubType: Report
PubTypeId: report
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  Label: Title
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  Data: Teaching Thinking in Subject-Specific Contexts to Disadvantaged South African Communities.
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mehl%2C+Merlin+C%2E%22">Mehl, Merlin C.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lochhead%2C+Jack%22">Lochhead, Jack</searchLink>
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
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  Data: N
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 1987
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Reports - Research<br />Speeches/Meeting Papers
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+Processes%22">Cognitive Processes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Science%22">College Science</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physics%22">Physics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Process+Education%22">Process Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Curriculum%22">Science Curriculum</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Education%22">Science Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Instruction%22">Science Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+School+Science%22">Secondary School Science</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22South+Africa%22">South Africa</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This document characterizes South African education as resulting in large numbers of students who are poorly equipped to meet academic requirements of first-year university courses, especially in science related disciplines. It reports on a study designed to investigate the learning problems of disadvantaged South Africans in an attempt to identify approaches that can be developed to help alleviate them. The study focused primarily upon the difficulties experienced by such students in dealing with kinematics sections of a first-year physics course. A person-to-person interview technique was used as the students worked through some typical kinematics problems. The analysis of the interviews yielded a list of deficient cognitive functions and nine instruments were developed to compensate for these deficiencies; the strategy required for the use of a specific concept was developed as the concept was taught. This new approach was first used in the Physics 1B class of the University of the Western Cape (Capetown, South Africa), the class being divided into Test and Control groups. Results for the use of the concepts showed a 30% difference in favor of the test group and also showed a high level of enthusiasm for the experiment on the part of the test group students. The study concluded that there seem to be three approaches to teaching thinking: (1) teaching thinking free of specific content; (2) integrating thinking skills into content material by providing thinking strategies to give more meaningful access to the content of a discipline; and (3) determining the requisite thought processes for understanding and using concepts and laws, and then making these explicit in the development of the relevant curriculum materials. This paper indicates what may be attempted in the third area. (TW)
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  Label: Entry Date
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  Data: 1988
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  Label: Accession Number
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  Data: ED291572
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED291572
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Cognitive Processes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Science
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Higher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Physics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Process Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science Curriculum
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary School Science
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: South Africa
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Teaching Thinking in Subject-Specific Contexts to Disadvantaged South African Communities.
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Mehl, Merlin C.
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Lochhead, Jack
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 1987
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