Adams, H.B. (1986) The teaching of general problem solving strategies. Gifted Education International, 4 (2), 85-88.

"A definition of 'a problem' and a breakdown of the problem solving process is offered. This is followed by a series of guidelines for the teaching of general problem solving strategies." (p.85)

 

Adler, M.J. (1987) Why "critical thinking" programs won't work. The Education Digest, 52 (7), 9-11.

Argues that "we should try to be sure that students are coached in thinking in every course that is taught - taught, one hopes, by teachers who know how to think." (p.11)

 

Ashman, A.F., Wright, S.K. & Conway, R.N.F. (1994) Developing the metacognitive skills of academically gifted students in mainstream classrooms. Roeper Review, 16 (3), 198-204.

"This article describes a teaching model, Process-Based Instruction (PBI), that is applicable to all mainstream classrooms containing students who have diverse skills and abilities. ... When PBI is used in the classroom gifted students are able to contribute to lessons and activities and work at their own pace and level under teacher supervision." (p.198)

 

Atwood, B.S. (1977) Building Independent Learning Skills. Palo Alto: Learning Handbooks. (370.152/A887B)

"Self-directed study - the essence of individualized instruction - doesn't just happen. In this book you'll find over 100 ideas and activities developed and tested by teachers. You'll also find specific strategies to use to help your students become independent learners, including: how to help pupils define problems, plan individual studies, find information, record, report and evaluate results." (p.2)

 

Augustine, D.K., Gruber, K.D. & Hanson, L.R. (1989) Co-operation works! Educational Leadership, 47 (4), 4-7.

Cites case studies of gifted students who benefited from participation in co-operative groups - eg, learning to be tactful, to share ideas and to respect others' opinions.

 

Bransford, J.D. & Stein, B.S. (1984) The Ideal Problem Solver. New York: Freeman. (153.43/B821I)

Outlines a model for improving problem solving. Includes chapters on 'Improving memory skills', 'Intelligent criticism' and 'Effective communication'.

 

Burns, D.E. (1990) Pathways to Investigative Skills. Mansfield Center: Creative Learning Press. (CR371.95/R424z) [See under Enrichment Models]

 

Burns, D.E. & Olenchak, F.R. (1989) A buyer's guide to thinking skills programs. Education, 109 (4), 445-454.

"The important issues that teachers and school decision-makers should consider both in purchasing and in employing commercial thinking skills materials have been studied by the authors through field research and are related herein." (p. 445) Contains much practical advice, including an explanation of seven selection criteria and a list of 13 thinking skills programs.

 

Buzan, T. (1989) Use Your Head. London: BBC Books. (153/B992u, 1989)

In particular, see the sections on mind mapping - chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9.

 

Buzan, T. & Buzan, B. (1993) The Mind Map Book. New York: Dutton. (153.4/B992m)

A detailed explanation of the use of mind mapping, including numerous examples in colour. In particular, see chapters 22, 'Thinking', 23, 'Teaching', and 24, 'Creating the master mind map'.

 

Chamberlain, M.A. (1993) Philosophy for Children Program and the Development of Critical Thinking of Gifted Elementary Students. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Kentucky. (371.953/C443p)

"Transcriptions of audio tapes of group discussions revealed a higher percentage of critical thinking responses in philosophy groups for the sampled sessions, with philosophy groups averaging over twice as many critical thinking responses as the literature groups. The percentage of student-to-student responses more than doubled from Week 2 (20%) to Week 11 (54%) for philosophy groups, while the percentage in literature groups remained below 15% for each sampled session. Percentage of teacher talk in philosophy groups was half that in literature groups by the end of the study. Philosophy journals provided a view of students' thinking as they focused on logic, metacognition, and wondering. Entries reflected a sense of enthusiasm and engagement as students explored the nature of the mind, thinking, truth, fairness, and friendship." (p.ii)

 

Chance, P. (1986) Thinking in the Classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. (370.157/C454T)

Examines a number of programs including 'CoRT Thinking Lessons', 'Philosophy for Children', 'Odyssey', 'Techniques of Learning' and 'Productive Thinking Program'. Considers assumptions and goals, methods and materials, target audience, teacher training and qualifications, and evaluation.

 

Cheng, P.-W. (1993) Metacognition and giftedness: The state of the relationship. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37 (3), 105-112.

"Metacognition involves thinking about one's learning, remembering, and understanding." (p.105) "Experimental studies designed to single out metacognition for investigation have repeatedly found the performance of gifted children superior in comparison to that of their average peers. More importantly, case-study analysis of giftedness across different fields also indicates the importance of metacognitive skills. ... the evidence is highly suggestive in indicating superior metacognitive ability as an essential component of giftedness." (p.110)

 

Costa, A. (1987) If I could choose five books on thinking. TalentEd, 18, 9-11.

Cites many more than five books on developing thinking skills.

 

Costa, A.L. (Ed.) (1991) Developing Minds: Programs for Teaching Thinking: Volume 2. Alexandria: ASCD. (Q371.3/D489, vol 2)

The 29 contributors include Meeker (Structure of Intellect), de Bono (CoRT Thinking), Lipman (Philosophy for Children), Crabbe (Future Problem Solving), Parnes (Creative Problem Solving), Hobbs & Schlicter (Talents Unlimited), Sternberg (Intelligence Applied: A Triarchic Program for Training Intellectual Skills) and Isaksen & Treffinger (Creative Learning and Problem Solving).

 

Davidson, J.E. & Sternberg, R.J. (1984) The role of insight in intellectual giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 28 (2), 58-64.

Argues that "insight skills provide a useful way of understanding a critical aspect of intellectual giftedness. Such skills can be assessed via instruments of the kind described in this article, and it appears possible as well to obtain improvements in these skills via a training program targeted to the improvement of the skills." (p.64)

 

de Bono, E. (1968) The Five-Day Course in Thinking. London: Allen Lane. (155.5/22).

"Based on the three points of simplicity, involvement and achievement, the books is intended to amuse the reader into developing an awareness of his own style of thinking, its strong points and its weaknesses." (p.8)

 

de Bono, E. (1977) Lateral Thinking. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (153.42/D287L, 1977)

"This book is about lateral thinking which is the process of using information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring." (p.7)

 

Deppeler, J. (1992) Using mind maps for research skills and report writing in independent projects with gifted children. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 1 (1), 8-11.

"The final mind map not only provides a graphic representation of the scope of the topic to be researched but also visible in the map is the sequence of events that can be used to order the research and report writing." (p.8)

 

Eberle, R. & Stanish, R. (1980) CPS for Kids: A Resource Book for Teaching Creative Problem-Solving to Children. Buffalo: D.O.K. (370.152/E16c)

Explains the six-step CPS method and provides 30 activities, on worksheets, for helping children to learn it.

 

Edwards, J. (Ed.) (1995) Thinking: International Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Highett: Hawker Brownlow Education. (153.42/T443, 1994)

Contains 30 papers from the Fifth International Conference on Thinking, held in Townsville in 1992. Includes contributions from Edward de Bono, Richard Paul, David Perkins, Dale Spender, Arthur Costa, Philip Adey, Julia Atkin, Nora Cohen, Joan Dalton, Paul Davies, Judi Hirsch and John Edwards (on CoRT Thinking, among other things).

 

Edwards, J. (1991) The direct teaching of thinking skills. In G. Evans (Ed.) Learning and Teaching Cognitive Skills. Hawthorn: ACER. pp.87-106. (370.152/L4385)

"A brief overview of the current state of the art is provided, leading to a discussion of the central issue of domain-specific versus domain-independent approaches. The chapter then focuses on an evaluative case study of de Bono's CoRT Thinking Skills Program." (p.87)

 

Edwards, P.R. (1991) Using dialectical journals to teach thinking skills. Journal of Reading, 35 (4), 312-316.

"This article explores a group of strategies that lend themselves particularly well to a sequential instructional plan to improve students' thinking skills. These strategies offer teachers a way of actually helping students learn to think critically, rather than simply monitoring whether or not they are thinking that way independently." (p.312) Specific examples are included to explain the approach and to demonstrate the sequence it follows, as the students take increasing responsibility for their own products.

 

Epley, T.M. (1982) Models for Thinking: Activities to Enhance Modes of Thought. Ventura: N/S-LTI-G/T. (153.42/E64m)

Outlines 16 models. "The format for the models includes background information, objectives, and several suggested activities, with an example and specific directions for model use." (p.vi) These models provide useful guidance for planning enrichment units.

 

Flack, J.D. (1990) Mystery and Detection. Englewood: Teacher Ideas Press. (371.95/F571m)

Subtitled 'Thinking and problem solving with the sleuths', "this volume attempts to provide qualitatively differentiated resources and teaching strategies for teachers, library media specialists, administrators, and parents charged with the education of our gifted and talented youth." (p.xiii) Uses extracts from the life and work of well known mystery writers to create a range of activities.

 

Fogarty, R., Perkins, D. & Barell, J. (1991) How to Teach for Transfer. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education. (371.39/F655h)

"The pages of this book pay repeated attention to three key ideas - the somethings, somehows, and somewheres of transfer." (p.xi) "One of the goals of teaching for transfer is to instill active rather than inert knowledge. To extend learning, to bridge the old to the new, and to lead students toward relevant transfer and use across academic content and into life situations, is, then, the mission of the thinking classroom." (p.xiii)

 

Frangenheim, E. (1995) Reflections on Classroom Thinking Strategies. Springwood: Rodin Educational Publications. (CR153.42/F827r)

"This guide is a personal interpretation and critique of those strategies which I use frequently in my teaching or professional development sessions." (p.2) Those covered include 'The comma thinking rule', 'Six thinking hats', 'Jigsaw', 'Hot potato', 'Scamper', 'SWOT analysis', 'PMI', 'Yes/No/PO & random input', '1:4:P:C:R' and 'Triad'.

 

Friedman, M.I. (1984) Teaching Higher Order Thinking Skills to Gifted Students. Springfield: Charles E. Thomas. (371.956/F911T)

Outlines a "systematic, comprehensive program for teaching problem-solving skills in a manner that is specifically designed to actualize the unique potential of gifted learners." (p.7) Employs a Heuristic model which the author contrasts with the Enrichment and Acceleration models.

 

Geosits, M.S. & Kirk, W.R. (1983) Sowing the seeds of plagiarism. Principal, 62 (5), 35-38.

Outlines a method of teaching report writing skills, using "the same six basic questions that journalists rely on when writing a news article: who, what, where, when, why, and how." (p.37)

 

Hammer, D. (1985) Skill development. TalentEd, 10, 6-13.

Outlines teaching sequences for (a) notemaking and (b) Creative Problem Solving (CPS).

 

Kay, S. (1994) From theory to practice - Promoting problem-finding behavior in children. Roeper Review, 16 (3), 195-197.

"A Discovery Unit was designed to develop problem-finding behavior in children (grade 3-6). These children designed a problem and its solution using topics of their own choice. ... The results of this qualitative investigation provide evidence to support the need to instruct and practice problem-finding skills early and often in school." (p.195)

 

Lamb, P., Kennedy, D., Chezem, J., Hopf, S. & Vaughn, V. (1993) Research skills for gifted elementary school pupils. The Gifted Child Today, 16 (4), 2-7.

Discusses location, acquisition, organisation, recording, communication and evaluation skills, illustrating these with examples from the authors' own practical experience. A list of useful materials for teaching research skill development is included. "Beginning at the preschool and kindergarten levels, teachers can model and exemplify the competencies and skills listed here ...." (p.7)

 

Langrehr, J. (1990) Teach Thinking Strategies. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. (370.152/L285t)

Contains 68 blackline masters, based on Bloom's taxonomy. "The book can be used in two ways. Firstly it is a source of models for teachers designing questions for particular curriculum content. ... A second use of the book is as a student workbook or teacher resource book. It can be used in a weekly thinking skills lesson, for example, in a social studies or science programme. ... When students have completed the exercises on a set of resource pages it is good for them to create some of their own. These creations could then be tried with other members of a small group." (p.v)

 

Lewis, G. (1989) Developing inventive ability: Survival skills for societies in a technological world. Gifted Education International, 6 (1), 16-21.

Discusses persistence, visualisation ability and anti-authoritarian attitudes as characteristics of inventive people.

 

Lipman, M., Sharp, A.M. & Oscanyan, F.S. (1980) Philosophy in the Classroom. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. (370.1/L764P, 1980)

Contains major sections on 'Encouraging children to be thoughtful', 'Aims and methods of philosophy for children' and 'Applying thinking skills to school experience' and draws upon the ideas in the specially written children's novels Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery, Lisa, Suki, Mark and Tony.

 

Lipman, M. (1984) The cultivation of reasoning through philosophy. Educational Leadership, 42 (1), 51-56.

"By devoting a portion of each day to disciplined discussion of significant but unclear concepts, schools of the future will see to it that both primary and higher order thinking skills are readied for use well before they are needed, so that no student need enter a classroom cognitively unprepared." (p.56)

 

Manning, B.H., Glasner, S.E. & Smith, E.R. (1996) The self-regulated learning aspect of metacognition: A component of gifted education. Roeper Review, 18 (3), 217-223.

Outlines in detail the self-regulated learning pedagogy (SRLP) approach. Think-aloud strategies include Ask, Tell, Try, Check and Cheer.

 

Martin, J.A. (1988) The lighthouse project. The Gifted Child Today, 11 (2), 10-11.

Outlines how a Canadian elementary school teaches thinking skills via units of study planned around themes.

 

Mitchell, B.M. & Cantlon, F.M. (1987) Teaching the gifted to become futuristic problem solvers. Roeper Review, 9 (4), 236-238.

"Used effectively with 8-18 year old gifted children, the model requires the learner to write problem statements pertaining to future issues, create goals and objectives, conduct force field analyses, and forecast the probable consequences of problem solutions in regard to socio-economic groups, politics, technological growth and natural resources, quality of life and environment, and international relations." (p.236)

 

Noller, R.B., Treffinger, D.J. & Houseman, E.D. (1979) It's a Gas to be Gifted or CPS for the Gifted and Talented. Buffalo: D.O.K. (371.95/N794I)

"This book deals with procedures for planning and conducting a program utilizing the creative problem-solving process, through what we are calling the Froop Oil Co. Simulation. Our major purpose for this simulation is to illustrate applications of creative problem solving in education." (p.1)

 

Organ, T.W. (1965) The Art of Critical Thinking. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (155.5/20)

Provides a detailed, sequential approach to critical thinking/problem solving, with exercises at the end of each major section.

 

Paulus, P.B. & Paulus, L.E. (1997) Implications of research on group brainstorming for gifted education. Roeper Review, 19 (4), 225-229.

"Group brainstorming is a popular technique in organisations and educational programs. Advocates for this technique suggest that it will increase productivity, learning and creativity. Educators often promote brainstorming as a useful technique in gifted education. Although individual brainstorming may be an effective technique, research on group brainstorming indicates that it is often detrimental to the production of creative ideas. We evaluate the implications of this research for gifted education and suggest ways to enhance the effectiveness of group brainstorming." (p.225)

 

Polette, N. (1992) The Research Book for Gifted Programs P-8. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Educational. (CR371.956/P765r)

"Skills of location, acquisition, organization, recording, communication and evaluation are presented in a manner designed to appeal to the inquisitive and curious nature of the gifted child." (p.2)

 

Ross, J.A. & Smyth, E. (1995) Thinking skills for gifted students: The case for correlational reasoning. Roeper Review, 17 (4), 239-243.

"Thinking skills are an integral component of programs for gifted learners. Research on correlational reasoning demonstrates that the ability to solve correlational problems is unlikely to develop without well designed instruction. Several successful programs (in whole class, cooperative learning, and computer formats) and their implications in programming for gifted students are discussed." (p.239)

 

Schack, G.D. (1988) Experts-in-a-book: Using how-to books to teach the methodologies of practising professionals. Roeper Review, 10 (3), 147-150.

"This article includes information about choosing, locating, and using how-to books, along with an annotated bibliography of exemplary books in five areas." (p.147)

 

Schlichter, C.L. (1987) Talents Unlimited: An inservice education model for teaching thinking skills. Gifted Child Quarterly, 30 (3), 119-123.

"Implementation of the TU model can enhance identification of students with high potential in a wide range of abilities and can provide the basis for enrichment in areas of student talent strengths." (p.122)

 

Schlichter, C.L. (1991) Integrating thinking skills instruction with the curriculum. The Gifted Child Today, 14 (4), 7-9.

"How can teachers, especially secondary teachers of specific disciplines, integrate thinking skills instruction with their content?" Specific classroom examples are provided to show how, across a range of subjects, including science, history, English, economics, French and maths.

 

Shlesinger, B.E. (1983) An untapped resource for inventors: Gifted and talented children. The Elementary School Journal, 82 (3), 215-220.

An inventor describes how he taught the art of inventing to gifted and talented children. Includes 24 steps or keys in inventing. Notes that "teachers in the program have observed that their students' interests in all fields of science and history increase as they learn the skills of inventing." (p.219)

 

Starko, A.J. & Schack, G.D. (1993) Looking for Data: In All the Right Places. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education. (CR372.130281/S795l)

Contains "basic research methodology that we believe is appropriate for elementary school students. ... We have also included sample activities and suggestions for numerous additional projects that could be pursued by individuals or groups of students at each major step of the research process." (p.xii) Has sections on 'Getting started', 'Focusing your problem', 'Types of research', 'Gathering data', 'Sample selection', 'Analyzing and interpreting data' and 'Sharing results'.

 

Sternberg, R.J. (1984) How can we teach intelligence? Education Leadership, 42 (1), 38-48.

Reviews three programs and suggests general guidelines to apply in selecting an appropriate program for teaching intellectual skills.

 

Stoddard, E.P. & Renzulli, J.S. (1983) Improving the writing skills of talent pool students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 27 (1), 21-27.

Recommends that sentence-combining activities and creativity activities should be introduced to above average fifth and sixth grade students as research has shown that these will enhance the creativity, syntactic maturity and overall quality of student writing samples.

 

Treffinger, D.J. (1975) Teaching for self-directed learning: A priority for the gifted and talented. Gifted Child Quarterly, 19 (1), 46-59.

Outlines a three-stage process of moving students from being teacher-directed to being self-directed - i.e. gradually.

 

Treffinger, D.J. (1983) George's group: A creative problem-solving facilitation case study. Journal of Creative Behavior, 17 (1), 29-48.

Uses a fictitious case study to show "some of the errors that are often made by untrained or inexperienced CPS facilitators, as well as some of the consequences of those errors in the group's behaviour and the ineffectiveness of the session." (p.39)

 

Wolfe, C. (1992) Search: A Research Guide for Independent Study. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education. (CR371.3943/W855s)

Designed for students in Years 4 to 9 'who want to do a science project, enter a competition/show, or for a student who is interested in pursuing an independent study in any subject area'. (p.4)

 

Udall, A.J. & High, M.H. (1989) What are they thinking when we're teaching critical thinking? Gifted Child Quarterly, 33 (4), 156-160.

"The teaching of critical thinking is an important part of gifted program curricula. This descriptive study addresses the issue of the effectiveness of such teaching by comparing student perceptions of a lesson on critical thinking with teachers' stated objectives. ...The findings indicate that gifted students are able to identify the teacher's intentions and to articulate their own mental processes as they work through a thinking procedure in a lesson." (p.156)

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