Reveals creative and unique ways to assess children's learning in the social studies classroom using tools rather than tests. Provides examples of acrostic poems (each line begins with a letter from a famous person's name) and bio-poems (each line answers a biographical question). (MJP)

Learning outcomes of Alberta Native and non-Native adult learners were differentially affected by relative preference for visual versus verbal learning style. Also demonstrated were the importance of individual differences and the complex interaction of learning style preference, instructional materials, learning task, and cultural background.…

Reviews recent research reports, policy statements, and federal legislation that recognize the arts as a fundamental subject. Discusses different ways of knowing, how the arts enhance learning in other areas, national standards for arts education, outcomes of arts education, and challenges to expanding arts education. Sidebars summarize a national…

Reviews the origins of the concept of cognitive style. Explores the fundamental applications of that style and relevant methods of assessment. Examines the distinction between style, which is likely to be relatively fixed, and strategies which are capable of being learned and developed. Discusses the relationship of style to learning preferences…

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual foundation for the development of hypermedia as an instructional tool for addressing individual learning style differences. Various learning theories and their relationship to hypermedia are examined, including information processing theory, semantic networks, concept webbing/mapping,…

This monograph reviews several approaches for describing learning styles and the instructional implications of an emphasis on learning styles for teachers. Several reasons for the importance of understanding individual learning styles are provided; such understanding leads to: (1) reduction of teacher and student frustration; (2) higher student…

The Swassing-Barbe Modality Index (SBMI) uses visual, auditory, and tactile inputs, but only reconstructed output, to measure children's modality strengths. In this experiment, the SBMI's three input modalities were crossed with two output modalities (spoken and drawn) in addition to the reconstructed standard to result in nine treatment…

Case study observations and analyses of learning styles in U.S. secondary schools comprise the crux of this monograph. The text provides testimony to the accomplishments of schools actually integrating differentiated learning styles into their diverse educational programs and concomitant coursework. With the notion that learning style provides…

The Early Prevention of School Failure (EPSF) program developed by Dr. Luceille Werner is presented. The program is designed to identify and remediate developmental deficiencies of four-, five-, and six-year-old children and has been accepted in the National Diffusion Network as a nationally validated program. The main program components are…

This study examines the effects of readiness level and learning modality emphasis on the form discrimination performance of kindergarten children on training and transfer tasks. Forty-eight male and 48 female kindergarten children between the ages of 5.5 and 6.5 years participated in the study. The children were randomly selected from a group of…

This paper describes the philosophy, implementation, and assessment of the Natural Sciences (NatSci) Program at the University of New Mexico which is designed to provide preservice elementary and middle school teachers with the understanding of science content and processes necessary to teach science confidently and competently in their future…

To increase understanding of learning style preferences, a study was conducted in which the learning style preferences of students majoring in secondary education enrolled in two alternative field-based programs were compared to the learning style preferences of students enrolled in the traditional program. Three styles (independent,…

Describes a study designed to compare student success in a concept mapping exercise with the cognitive preference of the student, and to determine whether students achieve better using individualistic or cooperative learning modes in the concept mapping exercise. Discusses the background, methodology and results. (CW)

Development of new measures of the two dimensions underlying experiential learning theory using content domain described by D. A. Kolb is reported. Responses from 509 and 153 undergraduates and factor analysis establish the instruments' reliability and 2-dimensional structure. Preliminary evidence of validity is also provided. (SLD)

Summarizes factors in cultural experience that affect approaches to learning and problem solving. Reviews evidence of the past 30 years on cognitive style differences in U.S. culturally diverse groups: Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans. Discusses mediating effects of gender and social class within cultural…