Challenging. Illuminating. Rewarding. A masterpiece of organization and clarity. Frederick Reif's Applying Cognitive Science to Education has been a privilege to read.
Reif, a former University of California physics professor whose research interests shifted to education and cognition, states that "College or university science...have ordinarily not studied psychological or educational issues.... They rarely think much about the underlying thought and learning processes." His goal is to provide a coherent introduction to issues concerning knowledge, thinking, and learning, in the belief that a better understanding could "help to improve instruction and significantly facilitate students' learning." His intended audience includes science and math instructors from the high school level up, textbook writers, and students preparing for careers in teaching.
To highlight some pertinent points, chapters 1 and 2 introduce thinking about thinking and some basics of intellectual performance. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss knowledge and its basic components and concepts; in science...
University of California Press