Astute Activities: Increasing Cognitive and Creative Development in the Language Arts Classroom.

Autor/in	Bay, Lois Marie Zinke
Titel	Astute Activities: Increasing Cognitive and Creative Development in the Language Arts Classroom.
Quelle	(1985), (138 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Creative Thinking; Creativity; English Instruction; Grade 12; High Schools; Literature Appreciation; Rural Education; Rural Schools; Student Writing Models; Teacher Researchers; Teaching Methods; Theory Practice Relationship; Writing Evaluation; Writing Exercises; Writing Improvement; Writing Instruction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Denkfähigkeit; Kognitive Entwicklung; Kreatives Denken; Kreativität; English langauage lessons; Englischunterricht; School year 12; 12. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 12; High school; Oberschule; Literarische Wertung; Ländliche Erwachsenenbildung; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen; Lehrerforschung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Theorie-Praxis-Beziehung; Schreibübung; Schreibunterricht
Abstract	Using Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," John Knowles'"A Separate Peace," and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," a study examined the effects of Astute Activities--teaching techniques which increase students' cognitive ability and creativity--on student performance in two senior English classes in a small rural high school. Subjects, nine students from the 1984 senior class and five students from the 1985 senior class, participated in the activities as part of their English class assignments. Activities included mind mapping, brainstorming, creative writing exercises using characters from the novels, and discussions of various issues from the characters' perspectives. Cognitive ability was measured using the Language Arts Test of Cognitive Functioning (LATCF), and writing ability was evaluated with a writing pre- and posttest. Results indicated that Astute Activities stimulated most students' thinking, increased their awareness of issues, increased the creativity of their work, both written and spoken, and matured their writing. However, LATCF scores showed only slight improvement in overall cognitive functioning for both groups, and pretest and posttest scores also indicated only slight improvement in writing ability. Implications for improving rural education are addressed. (An appendix includes the LATCF as revised for seniors, pictures of student projects, sample student papers, and student evaluations. Thirty-three references are attached.) (MM)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC