This book invites the reader to think education against, beyond and without the school and its paraphernalia. To think about 'education', rather than schooling, and what kind of education is relevant to and needed now in the complex, difficult and dangerous world we live in. That invitation means testing our limits, questioning and changing…

This volume presents the second edition of the "Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) Observation Scheme." Since the book's original publication, COLT has become well established as a research instrument in L2 teaching and learning. This new edition brings COLT into the 21st century by introducing digital versions of the…

As traditional classroom settings are transitioning to online environments, teachers now face the challenge of using this medium to promote effective learning strategies, especially when teaching older age groups. Because adult learners bring a different set of understandings and skills to education than younger students, such as more job and life…

Defines computerized functional business games as those focusing on decision making and integration in the areas of accounting/finance, marketing, personnel/human resources, and production/operations. Nine currently available games are reviewed and evaluated in the context of a learning model. (Author/LRW)

Presents findings of a qualitative study of musical learning processes. Findings are reported in terms of the nature of strategies used by children as they work with peers to solve compositional problems. Also finds that successful students moved back and forth from holistic approaches to segmented activities. (CFR)

The learner's existing schema, which is defined here as an integrated structure of knowledge about a given topic, plays a critical role in new learning. Prior to or during learning, appropriate schemata should be activated in order to produce the best learning results. Instructional designers should systematically assess their target audience's…

Researchers who use video to record interactions usually need to translate the video data into another medium at some stage in order to facilitate its analysis and dissemination. This article considers some methodological issues that arise in this process by examining transcripts, diagrams and pictures as examples of different techniques for…

Conventional experimental research in mental imagery and visualization presents conflicting findings. Naturalistic inquiry offers an alternative approach for the study of mental imagery and problem solving. Paulo Freire, for example, used a naturalistic approach that emphasized active involvement in learning. Imagery can play an important role in…

This research investigated the value students attached to the laboratory activities while studying physics using the learning cycle curriculum construction and teaching procedures. Among the procedures used to supply students laboratory data were video-taped demonstrations, "live" teacher demonstration, presenting data in written form…

Developing a constructivist view of scientific inquiry and knowledge is considered to be important to the training of future scientists, as well as to the understanding of scientific information by all citizens. The research reported targets the junior high school grades. Curricular materials that introduce seventh graders to the constructivist…

Proposes an approach to school laboratory experiences which leads to gradual acquisition of inquiry skills based on the idea of advance organizers. Presents a design which is context familiar and can serve as an introduction to scientific inquiry. Discusses student achievement, and teacher and student attitudes. (CW)

The third of four symposium papers argues that, if instructional methods are to improve learning, they must have two aspects: a direct trace to a specific learning process, and empirical support that demonstrates their significance. Focusing on the tracing process, the paper presents an information processing model of learning that can be used by…

This discussion of research on media influences on learning describes a study of 611 students, grades three through 10, that examined user preconceptions about learning activities; examined differences in preconceptions across demographic subgroups based on gender and grade level; and interpreted results according to a theoretical learning model.…

Describes a study that involved a search for a model for the teaching of musical composition to students with some prior experience. Recounts in detail the way students approached the task of composing music, and the compositions they produced. Offers several recommendations for reforming composition instruction. (MJP)

In consecutive quarters, two studies were conducted at a two-year vocational/technical college to determine how different goal structures within the learning environment could influence student expectations, achievement, and perceptions of the causes of learning outcomes. The first study investigated three goal structures (i.e., cooperative,…