Three authors, writing from different perspectives in different time periods, share the view that students' sense of personal agency is fundamental to their intellectual engagement and deep understanding. The learner's imagination leads to powerful questions that grow when exposed to processes of productive inquiry and social interaction and when…

In order for students to learn well, someone or something must capture their interest. Novelty and intellectual challenges are good approaches for gaining attention. Imaginative strategies include storytelling, discrepant events, dressing in costumes, music, dynamic video clips, comic strips, humor, models, puppets, the element of surprise,…

Effects are reported of a Durham, North Carolina Education Improvement Program (EIP), a five-year compensatory education program, on social, intellectual, linguistic, and academic development of disadvantaged children. Regarding socialization, changes in social behavior are found to be more a function of specific setting variables, especially…

Educational leaders can take specific steps to improve academic achievement during college, including increasing and improving student-faculty interaction; providing an integrated, mind-opening general education core curriculum; promoting student extracurricular activity; encouraging students to live on campus; and permitting individualized course…