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The present research addresses the issues of whether there exist certain cognitive skills that facilitate transfer, and whether such skills are themselves transferable across domains. Of primary concern is the instructability of such skills. The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation Project (STACI) is a two-year research project testing the potentials and effects of using the systems approach to teach content specific knowledge and general problem solving skills. The content of existing high school science courses has been integrated with instruction and computer software that emphasize higher-order cognitive skills. The study also examines the effectiveness of using Structural Thinking Experimental Learning Laboratory with Animation (STELLA) to teach system dynamics and content knowledge. Four science teachers at a high school in Vermont are using STELLA and systems thinking in their courses. Teachers and researchers are working in a collaborative effort. The teachers' primary goal is to infuse the classes with systems thinking and to determine if the curriculum innovation is an effective way of teaching certain topics and skills; the researchers' goal is to document the curriculum innovation and to examine its cognitive consequences. A primary outcome of the project will be to disseminate information about the theory that underlies systems thinking and the methods by which the approach has been infused in the curricula. (BAE)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert