A study compared university chemistry students' (n=19) performances in creativity exercises, concept mapping, and traditional examinations. Performance in all three correlated with deep study strategy, but low correlations between the three methods suggests that they test different aspects of chemistry knowledge. Use and integration of all three…

Argues for a critical language awareness (LA) and for LA to be closely linked to the development of learners' practical language capabilities. The paper offers a critical evaluation of three major programmatic statements about LA: Committee for Linguistics in Education (1985); National Congress on Languages in Education (1985); and Hawkins (1984).…

Students tend to emphasize important information more than less important information in their lecture notes. Whether this strategy changes with lecture repetition was investigated in 3 experiments with 71 undergraduate students. Students' assessments and shifts of strategy with lecture repetition are discussed. (SLD)

Effects of acquisition of a problem-solving model on the ability to transfer to analogous problems in different domains were studied with 210 undergraduates who solved a biology problem and a transfer problem. Beneficial effects of the problem-solving model and implications for instructional strategies are discussed. (SLD)

A year-long study of knowledge development in 40 college students focused on the relationships between the historical and philosophical dimensions of the curriculum, teaching method, and quality of learning. Student exposure to the discipline's history and philosophy, discussion-based instruction, and personally meaningful topics were seen as most…

Compares teaching of engineers with teaching of policy analysts. Emphasizes similarities. Presents briefing format to be used in teaching students basics of policy analysis. Includes briefing instructions, selecting an issue, writing a proposal and briefing paper, and preparing the oral briefing. Suggests methods of evaluating students' efforts,…

Discusses the evaluation of instructional software, describes two versions of a software evaluation model, and reports the results of two studies that compared evaluative decisions based upon subjective software ratings and data collected using both versions of the evaluation model. Teacher use of student data for decision making is also examined.…

The effects of priors and amount of bias in the Bayesian approach to the estimation problem in item response models are examined using simulation studies. Different specifications of prior information have only modest effects on Bayesian estimates, which are less biased than joint maximum likelihood estimates for small samples. (TJH)

This study found that 420 regular elementary and 359 special education teachers were similar in use of procedures to assist students with low achievement. Peer tutoring received the highest mean score by both groups, followed by cooperative learning. Differences in teaching practice are analyzed by age, grade level, and degrees obtained.…

Provides a case study of one Chinese boy's experience learning to read in Great Britain. Compares the formal didactic approach of the Chinese school with the developmental approach of the English reception school. Shows how many contributory factors influence student learning and argues for fuller appreciation of this fact. (HB)

Using the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) observation theme, this study compares the second-language-learning environments of elementary-level students of French in four submersion and four immersion classrooms in Montreal, Canada. Results indicate clear differences between the two environments. (Author/VWL)

Describes and evaluates a technique used in two science lecture courses (biochemistry and introductory meteorology), in which lectures were interspersed with frequent, brief discussions within spontaneously formed small groups. Some differences were found in the ways the two professors managed the technique, but both felt in-class participation…

Examines the presence of two factors, cooperative learning training and problem-solving computer-based instruction (CBI), in 23 studies which compared cooperative CBI (C-CBI) and individual CBI (I-CBI). Results provide more evidence that cooperative learning and problem-solving CBIs are important factors in increasing achievement, group…

Compares the effectiveness of two types of art museum tours, the lecture and the inquiry/discussion tour, in promoting learning by college-aged students. Finds that both were equally effective in helping subjects acquire information, but neither encouraged retention; both types were equally enjoyable. Highlights the inconclusiveness of the…

Highlights studies confirming earlier research that telecourses are as effective as face-to-face instruction. Notes studies that show no statistically significant difference between the two modes of instruction; gaps in research studies; comparative studies; and use of simulation studies. (AEF)