In an effort to overcome deficiencies in teaching molecular biology at school, a workshop in an out-of-school laboratory including only authentic experiments was developed. Evaluation of 337 A-level 12th graders followed a quasi-experimental design, with one hands-on group, two non-experimental control groups (at school/in the laboratory), and one…

Dropping out of school is a universal problem, concerning fairly similar target groups in all countries. Several action plans to prevent dropping out and to activate the dropouts have been developed worldwide. The object of this study, the Activity School of East Finland, is an exceptionally comprehensive entity, within which alternative…

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effectiveness of two types of vocabulary instruction--image-schema-based instruction (ISBI) and translation-based instruction (TBI)--on the acquisition of second language (L2) polysemous words. Fifty-eight Japanese high school learners of English were divided into two treatment groups (ISBI and TBI)…

In this article, the author describes how he created an approach that he terms "Mathematics as a Second Language" (MSL) for teaching ELL students mathematics. The main components of MSL are vocabulary activities, journals, group work, and projects. He used MSL to teach prealgebra to ELL students, as well as to native English speakers, for two…

A study examined whether departmentalization affected the reading achievement of sixth-grade students attending a Chicago public school. A random sample of 30 students was chosen from a group of 53 who received instruction in a departmentalized program. A second random sample of 30 was selected from a total of 54 students who received instruction…

Inspired by the High/Scope educational approach, this book attempts to systematically and objectively compare different curriculum-based approaches to training early childhood teachers, and to assess how these models could individually and collectively address the problem of improving early childhood program quality nationwide. An analytical and…

A project was undertaken to examine sources of variety in developmental survey courses found under the headings of developmental psychology and human development. Specifically, the project sought to determine how development-related content and pedagogy were customized to adapt to such academic contexts as psychology major courses and service for…

Any number of successful teaching strategies use a mixture of methods rich in language use to enhance conceptual learning. Not all language-rich teaching leads to equivalent conceptual gain. A year-long study was conducted in three high school physics classes to provide empirical support for the existence of effects of varying level of…

A study examined the program planning steps used by trainers on the job and the differences between the identified planning steps and the program planning models outlined in the adult education literature. Training managers from five corporations with headquarters in the Pittsburgh area were interviewed, and supporting documents about each…

Although andragogy became an article of faith among many adult educators in the 25 years since Knowles first popularized the concept, relatively few studies have attempted to compare andragogy and pedagogy experimentally. Eighteen studies that attempted to do so included 15 dissertations and 3 journal articles. The studies were organized by…

The teaching of German in America is analyzed from a postmodernism perspective and in comparison with the long-term commitment to learning a foreign language in Europe. Two points are considered: (1) most innovative teaching methodologies were derived in the 1970s from humanist psychology, not from second language acquisition theory; and (2) the…

This study, involving 65 undergraduates at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta); explores a scheme for representing problem-solving knowledge and predicting transfer as a function of problem-solving subgoals acquired from examples. A subgoal is an unknown entity (numerical or conceptual) that needs to be found in order to achieve a higher…

This paper reviews evaluation reports on the use of integrated learning systems (ILSs) in elementary and middle schools throughout the United States in light of the following questions: Do these systems work? Do students make more progress using an ILS than learning in "traditional" ways? Could the cost of software and equipment be…

This report presents the results of a nationwide survey on the freshman placement practices of American colleges and universities. The report includes subgroup analyses by degree level, affiliation, size, region, and selectivity. Sources of information used for placement in English and mathematics are reported, including the most commonly found…

Observational and interview data from 12 teachers in 6 schools is used to examine academic work in high school history classes, with the goal of investigating how opportunity to learn differs for students across schools, teachers, and ability groups. Academic work is analyzed to determine the degree of challenge and accountability provided and the…