This article reports the development and application of two instruments for assessing science teachers? pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher?order thinking: a Likert?type research instrument, and an instrument that analyzes classroom observations. The rationale for developing these instruments and their main categories is described. One hundred and fifty Israeli science teachers replied to the Likert?type questionnaire. Results show that biology teachers gained a significantly higher score than either physics or chemistry teachers, that junior high school teachers scored significantly higher than high school teachers, and that a significant negative correlation was found between final scores and teaching experience. Participants in the classroom observation study were 14 teachers who attended a one?year professional development course for teaching higher?order thinking. The instrument was sensitive in detecting progress in teachers? pedagogical knowledge in several categories, such as: Frequency of tasks that required higher?order thinking; The variety of thinking strategies that teachers addressed during their lessons; Engagement of students in metacognitive thinking; and Using the ?language of thinking? in class. The implications of the findings for research and practice are described.

This article reports the development and application of two instruments for assessing science teachers? pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher?order thinking: a Likert?type research instrument, and an instrument that analyzes classroom observations. The rationale for developing these instruments and their main categories is described. One hundred and fifty Israeli science teachers replied to the Likert?type questionnaire. Results show that biology teachers gained a significantly higher score than either physics or chemistry teachers, that junior high school teachers scored significantly higher than high school teachers, and that a significant negative correlation was found between final scores and teaching experience. Participants in the classroom observation study were 14 teachers who attended a one?year professional development course for teaching higher?order thinking. The instrument was sensitive in detecting progress in teachers? pedagogical knowledge in several categories, such as: Frequency of tasks that required higher?order thinking; The variety of thinking strategies that teachers addressed during their lessons; Engagement of students in metacognitive thinking; and Using the ?language of thinking? in class. The implications of the findings for research and practice are described.

Despite inconclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of cognitive conflict, educators still consider it a significant instructional strategy. One of the challenges of current research is to study the conditions under which cognitive conflict is effective. This research examines the notion that cognitive conflict may have dissimilar effects for students of different academic levels. The study compares the effectiveness of teaching the control of variables thinking strategy to students of two academic levels (low vs. high) by two different teaching methods [inducing a cognitive conflict (ICC) vs. direct teaching (DT)]. One hundred twenty-one students who learned in a heterogeneous school were divided into four experimental groups in a 2 × 2 design. Results show no main effect of teaching method but do show a significant interaction effect between level of students and teaching method. The findings show that students with high academic achievements benefited from the ICC teaching method while the DT method hindered their progress. In contrast, students with low academic achievements benefited from the DT method while the ICC teaching method hindered their progress. The interaction effect was preserved in a retention test that took place 6 months after instruction. The findings show that previous inconclusive findings regarding the effectiveness of the ICC method can be explained by its contradictory effects on students of different academic levels.

Low participation rates of girls in advanced physics classes are a serious problem in many countries. Assuming that physics teachers can affect girls’ choice to elect advanced physics classes, and that teachers’ behaviors are affected by their knowledge and beliefs, the goal of this study was to investigate physics’ teachers’ knowledge and beliefs regarding girls’ low participation rates in physics. Interviews were conducted with 25 physics teacher who taught in 25 different high schools in an urban area in Israel. The findings show that: approximately one-half of the teachers underestimate the severity of the problem; almost two-thirds of the teachers do not see it as a problem that requires any action; and most teachers do not know what can be done to encourage girls to elect physics and to create a more gender inclusive physics learning environment. The implications for physics teacher education are discussed.

This study investigated elements of pedagogical knowledge when students' higher order thinking was an explicit and focused instructional goal. The findings suggest a model that consists of 6 elements. It seems that, for all these elements, the source of differences between teachers' various pedagogies may be tracked to the basic distinction between a traditional transmission-of-knowledge approach to instruction versus a reform oriented constructivist approach. The findings portray how these two pedagogies are played out when higher order thinking is viewed as a distinct educational goal. Appropriate activities are insufficient for students' active thinking. In the absence of adequate pedagogies, teachers adopt algorithmic approaches for teaching thinking that decrease the cognitive demands of tasks. Practical recommendations are discussed.

This study investigated elements of pedagogical knowledge when students’ higher order thinking was an explicit and focused instructional goal. The findings suggest a model that consists of 6 elements. It seems that, for all these elements, the source of differences between teachers’ various pedagogies may be tracked to the basic distinction between a traditional transmission-of-knowledge approach to instruction versus a reform oriented constructivist approach. The findings portray how these two pedagogies are played out when higher order thinking is viewed as a distinct educational goal. Appropriate activities are insufficient for students’ active thinking. In the absence of adequate pedagogies, teachers adopt algorithmic approaches for teaching thinking that decrease the cognitive demands of tasks. Practical recommendations are discussed.

Gender gaps in physics in favour of boys are more prominent in Israel than in other countries. The main research question is to find out what gender issues are at play in Israeli advanced placement physics classes. Matriculation exam scores from approximately 400 high schools were analysed across 12 years. In addition, semi-constructed interviews were conducted with 50 advanced placement physics students (25 girls and 25 boys). In terms of participation, it was found that the ratio of girls to boys has been unchanged from 1988 to 2000 and is roughly 1:3. In terms of performance, it was found that the final matriculation scores of boys and girls are similar. However, breaking up the final scores into its two components - teachers’ given grades and matriculation test scores - showed that boy’s test scores are usually higher than girls’ test scores, while girls’ teachers’ given grades are usually higher than boys’. Results from semi-constructed interviews pointed to two factors that are especially unfavourable to many girls: excessive competitiveness and lack of teaching for understanding. Girls’ yearning for deep understanding is seen as a form of questing for connected knowledge. It is suggested that instructional methods that foster students’ understanding while decreasing competitiveness in physics classes might contribute to girls’ participation and performance in advanced physics classes while also supporting the learning of many boys.

Gender gaps in physics in favour of boys are more prominent in Israel than in other countries. The main research question is to find out what gender issues are at play in Israeli advanced placement physics classes. Matriculation exam scores from approximately 400 high schools were analysed across 12 years. In addition, semi-constructed interviews were conducted with 50 advanced placement physics students (25 girls and 25 boys). In terms of participation, it was found that the ratio of girls to boys has been unchanged from 1988 to 2000 and is roughly 1:3. In terms of performance, it was found that the final matriculation scores of boys and girls are similar. However, breaking up the final scores into its two components - teachers' given grades and matriculation test scores - showed that boy's test scores are usually higher than girls' test scores, while girls' teachers' given grades are usually higher than boys'. Results from semi-constructed interviews pointed to two factors that are especially unfavourable to many girls: excessive competitiveness and lack of teaching for understanding. Girls' yearning for deep understanding is seen as a form of questing for connected knowledge. It is suggested that instructional methods that foster students' understanding while decreasing competitiveness in physics classes might contribute to girls' participation and performance in advanced physics classes while also supporting the learning of many boys.

Fostering students’ higher order thinking skills is considered an important educational goal. Although learning theories see the development of students’ thinking as an important goal for all students, teachers often believe that stimulating higher order thinking is appropriate only for high-achieving students. According to this view, low-achieving students are, by and large, unable to deal with tasks that require higher order thinking skills and should thus be spared the frustration generated by such tasks. Because this view may cause teachers to treat students in a nonegalitarian way, it is important to find out whether or not it is supported by empirical evidence. The goal of this study is to examine this issue in light of four different studies, by asking the following question: Do low-achieving students gain from teaching and learning processes that are designed to foster higher order thinking skills? Each of the4 studies addressed a different project whose goal was to teach higher order thinking in science classrooms. Following a brief general description of each project, we provide an analysis of its effects on students with low and high achievements. The findings show that by the end of each of the 4 programs, students with high academic achievements gained higher thinking scores than their peers with low academic achievements. However, students of both subgroups made considerable progress with respect to their initial score. In one of the 4 studies the net gain of low achievers was significantly higher than for high achievers. Our findings strongly suggest that teachers should encourage students of all academic levels to engage in tasks that involve higher order thinking skills.

This study examined the outcomes of a unit that integrates explicit teaching of general reasoning patterns into the teaching of a specific science content. Specifically, this article examined the teaching of argumentation skills in the context of dilemmas in human genetics. Before instruction only a minority (16.2%) of the students referred to correct, specific biological knowledge in constructing arguments in the context of dilemmas in genetics. Approximately 90% of the students were successful in formulating simple arguments. An assessment that took place following instruction supported the conclusion that integrating explicit teaching of argumentation into the teaching of dilemmas in human genetics enhances performance in both biological knowledge and argumentation. An increase was found in the frequency of students who referred to correct, specific biological knowledge in constructing arguments. Students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than students in the comparison group in a test of genetics knowledge. An increase was also found in the quality of students’ argumentation. Students were able to transfer the reasoning abilities taught in the context of genetics to the context of dilemmas taken from everyday life. The effects of metacognitive thinking and of changing students’ thinking dispositions by modifying what is considered valuable in the class culture are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 35–62, 2002

Gender gaps in physics in favour of boys are more prominent in Israel than in other countries. The main research question is to find out what gender issues are at play in Israeli advanced placement physics classes. Matriculation exam scores from approximately 400 high schools were analysed across 12 years. In addition, semi-constructed interviews were conducted with 50 advanced placement physics students (25 girls and 25 boys). In terms of participation, it was found that the ratio of girls to boys has been unchanged from 1988 to 2000 and is roughly 1:3. In terms of performance, it was found that the final matriculation scores of boys and girls are similar. However, breaking up the final scores into its two components - teachers’ given grades and matriculation test scores - showed that boy’s test scores are usually higher than girls’ test scores, while girls’ teachers’ given grades are usually higher than boys’. Results from semi-constructed interviews pointed to two factors that are especially unfavourable to many girls: excessive competitiveness and lack of teaching for understanding. Girls’ yearning for deep understanding is seen as a form of questing for connected knowledge. It is suggested that instructional methods that foster students’ understanding while decreasing competitiveness in physics classes might contribute to girls’ participation and performance in advanced physics classes while also supporting the learning of many boys.

The goal of this article is to expose teachers’ knowledge in the context of the special challenges they face when teaching higher order thinking. The study rationale is that understanding teachers’ knowledge is a prerequisite for designing effective teacher training programs. The study addressed 2 questions: (1) How well do teachers understand their students’ reasoning difficulties? and (2) What do teachers know pedagogically regarding these difficulties? Subjects were 37-83 junior high and high school science teachers. Data was collected during in-service professional development courses using four different methods: audio taping course discussion; work sheets that teachers wrote during the courses; self-report questionnaires in which teachers described lessons they had taught in their own classrooms; and reflective analysis of classroom instruction. The findings show that teachers are proficient in diagnosing students’ thinking difficulties and that they often apply a "transmission of knowledge" pedagogy even when teaching higher order thinking. The consequence of this pedagogy is a decrease in the cognitive level of tasks, which reduces students’ opportunities to engage in active thinking. Teachers’ reflective analysis of classroom instruction revealed several successful and non-successful patterns for treating students’ cognitive difficulties. Implications of the findings for teachers’ professional development are discussed.  

The goal of this study is to characterize the patterns of teachers’ beliefs regarding low-achieving students and instruction of higher order thinking. Subjects are 40 Israeli teachers. Results show that 45% of the teachers believe that higher order thinking is inappropriate for low-achieving students. Findings suggest that teachers’ beliefs in this context are related to their general theory of instruction: viewing learning as hierarchical in terms of students’ academic level was found to be related to a traditional view of learning, i.e., seeing learning as progressing from simple, lower order cognitive skills to more complex ones. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

This chapter describes a course called Thinking in Science that is part of a junior high school teacher preparation program in an Israeli college. The purpose of the course is to prepare prospective teachers to integrate instruction of higher order thinking skills into science topics. A qualitative evaluation study of the course examined processes that took place, documented in a portfolio. The findings show a developmental trend in four different aspects 1) students’ ideas about instruction of higher order thinking; 2) students’ opinions and attitudes regarding the course; 3) students’ experiences in developing higher order thinking as learners; and 4) experiences developing higher order thinking as teachers. Learning processes during the course took place on both a cognitive and an affective level. Students’ development went through a stage of cognitive imbalance, indicating meaningful learning. We also discuss the implications regarding the introduction of higher order thinking into science teacher preparation programs.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate teachers’ declarative metacognitive knowledge of higher order thinking skills. This was a qualitative study conducted within the educational setting of in-service science teachers’ courses. The main finding is that teachers’ intuitive (i.e., pre-instructional) knowledge of metacognition of thinking skills is unsatisfactory for the purpose of teaching higher order thinking in science classrooms. A general practical implication of this study is that courses which prepare teachers for instruction of higher order thinking should address extensively the issue of metacognition of thinking skills.