Despite the importance accorded to helping students make conceptual connections and arrive at a more sophisticated understanding of how ideas, concepts, theories, and explanations interact with and inform one another, educators have few maps to help them describe the process by which students learn to make these connections. Through skill theory,…

The author reviews literature on childrens' reactions to perceived failure and offers "learned helplessness" as a model to explain why a child who makes a mistake gives up. Suggestions for preventing these reactions are given. (Author/JMK)

A threefold approach, presented for combatting boredom in the classroom, involves (1) understanding the dynamics of boredom; (2) interpersonal skills to help students understand and manage boredom; and (3) guidelines for selecting classroom procedures to decrease boredom. (Author/PP)