In each issue of "The Learning Professional," Joellen Killion explores a recent research study to help practitioners understand the impact of particular professional learning practices on student outcomes. In this issue, Killion explores the study presented in "The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A…

The article describes five diverse secondary schools with successful programs to provide responsive instruction based on individual learning styles. Schools include a school for gifted students in Minnesota, a middle school in New Jersey, and three schools in New York. (DB)

Two repeated-measures designs with two samples of speech delayed preschool children (N=18) compared learning activities utilizing microcomputer instruction with similar activities delivered via conventional tabletop instructional materials. Findings suggested both methods are equally effective and efficient with each being more effective with…

The article describes the dramatic improvement in reading achievement, decrease in discipline problems, and improvement in student attitudes in a North Carolina elementary school over a two-year period when students were taught through their preferred learning styles. (DB)

If dynamics of gender and race in the science classroom are understood and used effectively, group work may enhance learning for all students, especially women and students of color; if ignored or misunderstood, group work may detract from or inhibit learning. Group size/selection, roles/leadership, assignments/grading, student resistance, and…

Presents results of a study using a switching regression model to correct for biases in assessing the gain in economic knowledge from high school economic courses. Explains that regressors used included geometry, civics, female, African-American, college, twelfth, and dummy variables. Reports substantial differences between students who elect…

Research on the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model has been conducted at more than 60 institutions of higher education and at every academic and grade level. Explanations of the 21 elements, the model, some research findings, and beginning steps for practitioners are provided to encourage initial experimentation with some of its variables.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine an effective approach to developing university vocational lifelong learning (VLL) professionals as researchers. Design/methodology/approach: Two quite different approaches to developing VLL professionals as researchers were piloted, one involving face-to-face training and the other distance…

Describes a study that examined the relationship between academic ability or aptitude, as measured by grade point average and American College Test scores, and achievement with and without computer-assisted instruction. (15 references) (CLB)

Every year on May 1st, Law Day celebrates this country's freedoms and the role of law in protecting and preserving them. Noting that 2000 is the first year of a new millennium, this guide urges planners all over the country to pay special attention to the role of citizens in a diverse democracy. Since the year 2000 is also an election year, the…

In instructional design for higher education, it is important to the success of all students to take into account the differences in individual learning styles. Research indicates that different student populations have characteristically different approaches to learning and that teachers can use patterns of effective practice to foster success…

Recognizing that the teaching of writing has always been political, this collection of essays by teachers, scholars, and theorists intends to promote discussion of what it means to study and teach writing and reading at a time when the academy itself is struggling to define the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population. The…

Evaluation of an instrumental enrichment program with 80 gifted children (ages 10-12) from culturally disadvantaged backgrounds and a follow-up study 4 years later showed: (1) generalization effects on verbal and nonverbal thinking tasks, and (2) durability of effects on thinking tasks and broad generalization in school achievement. (Author/DB)

This paper explains the rationale for utilizing computer-based, hypermedia tutorials for radiology education and presents the results of a field test of this educational technique. It discusses the development of the hypermedia tutorials at Montreal General Hospital (Quebec, Canada) in 1991-92 and their use in the radiology residency program. The…

This digest explains how functional language instruction can be made useful for persons with moderate to severe disabilities who are also culturally and linguistically different. It further explains how vocabulary and cultural information of the Spanish-speaking student can be included in functional language instruction for students who are from…