ABSTRACT
In this chapter we describe some impressions we have derived from our attempts to teach problem-solving skills to academically underprepared adults (“developmental” students) seeking to participate in higher education. In the spring semester of 1980, we began work on the Cognitive Studies Project, a pilot project at Manhattan Community College concerned with helping such students become more effective thinkers and learners. In the sections that follow, we describe our rationale for offering these students instruction in thinking and learning skills. We then present a brief overview of the pilot project, describing both the kinds of students who were involved and the instructional approaches project. These include insights with respect to the intellectual competencies of developmental students, with respect to the special difficulties that are entailed in offering cognitive skills instruction to this population, and with respect to barriers that exist in higher education settings to attempts to introduce cognitive skills instruction.
