ABSTRACT
The prevailing opinion among educational reformers is that the actions of teaching and learning need to change away from practices and curriculum models that put an emphasis on what we know. The new ‘best practices’ focus is one that puts an emphasis on why, and how we know. It is hypothesized that this broader explanatory context facilitates the incorporation of higher order thinking and communication skills. Thus, we hear today requests for schools for thought (Bruer, 1993); thinking curriculum (Resnick and Klopfer, 1989); communities of practice (Brown and Campione, 1990); anchored instruction (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University [CTGV], 1992); project-based science (Krajcik et al., 1994), and alternative assessment practices (Gardner, 1991).
