The article critiques a 1987 (Kavale and Forness) meta-analysis which concluded that research does not support modality-based instruction. The study is faulted for its selection criteria as well as its failure to consider demographic differences, achievement level differences, multiplicity of preferences, definitions of terms, effect-size…

This response to Dunn (EC 221 793) reaffirms the conclusions of a meta analysis on modality-based instruction, through elaboration of the study's selection criteria and methodological factors. Although modality-based instruction is seen to be intuitively appealing, educators are encouraged, instead, to apply instructional methods of proven…

A literature search identified 39 studies assessing modality preferences and modality teaching. The studies, involving 3,087 disabled and nondisabled elementary/secondary level subjects, were quantitatively synthesized. Subjects receiving differential instruction based on modality preferences exhibited only modest gains. (Author/JDD)

Reviews empirical studies of outdoor education's impact on cognitive development. Research findings are presented on the subject areas of environmental education, general science, and language development. A cautionary synthesis of research related to learning in the out-of-doors is also offered. (ML)

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…

In this survey, an attempt is made to summarize the perspective on so-called 'misconceptions' research of those whose work in this field has not been guided by learning theory. Following the terminology of Driver and Erickson (1983), this research is called 'problem-oriented' in this paper. Its epistemological assumptions and assumptions about…

The effect on performance of different formats for typical mathematics story problems was studied, along with the relationship of certain learner variables. More than 1200 children in grades 3-8, including over 220 learning-disabled students, were tested and/or interviewed. Story problems were in the usual format found in textbooks, an abbreviated…

Advances in cognitive science have greatly increased our knowledge of how the human mind stores and uses information. That knowledge can be used to decompose curricular objectives so as to increase the specificity of instruction to a level of precision that should greatly enhance student writing. This article identifies some major types of…

This investigation examined the effectiveness of training Japanese and American children with a visual animation/construction or verbal labelling strategy for solving computerized geometric matrices that were correctly or incorrectly completed and varied in number of elements (l to 3) and number of transformations (0 to 2). Subjects were 209…

Presents an interesting example of Russian pedagogical thought. Personality-oriented instruction generally refers to cognitive style. Attempts a broad classification of objectives and procedures for this type of instruction. Includes many references and terminology from Russian pedagogy (for example, psychodidactics, social-pedagogical model,…