ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the research which aim to increase the centrality of children's thinking in educational practice. In order for cognitive science to truly make a difference in education, a first step is for decision-makers to recognize that it is important to consider what students are thinking. Delivery of quality reading instruction is thought to require subject-matter knowledge of reading comprehension, subject-matter knowledge of word analysis, and pedagogical knowledge for teaching comprehension. And in elementary school, teachers must be prepared to teach multiple content areas and also help to develop young students' academic motivation, engagement, and social-emotional skills. Results to date indicate that the cognitive science infusion did not lead to increased knowledge about declarative or application knowledge about children's thinking – the juniors in the cognitive science-infused methods classes performed no differently than the control students or their sophomore counterparts learning the material for the first time in their cognitive development class.
