Methods for the implementation of on-line contingent research are described in this study. In a contingent experimentation procedure, the content of successive experimental trials is a function of a subject's responses to a previous trial or trials (in contrast to traditional experimentation in which the subject is presented a previously…

Describes recent research findings in the area of neurobiology and its relationship to learning and memory. The article provides definitions of associative and nonassociative learning, identifies essential memory trace circuits of the mammalian brain, and discusses some neural mechanisms of learning. (TW)

A high-performance learning culture is one in which each individual member is expected to perform to high standards. Based on review of the literature and research this short concept paper for trainers presents a conceptual framework for creating high-perform learning communities. The framework embodies five components: (1) vision; (2) mission;…

This study examined how constructivist teaching and the organization of the learning environment relate to student achievement. The researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among school and teaching attributes and student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics as measured by the Washington…

The 21st Century Learning Initiative is a transnational program concerned with improving education by changing outdated assumptions about how humans learn. This paper summarizes issues behind the organization's work. The first is the biological nature of learning; discussion of this issue includes a description of new research on the very young…

Addresses the power held by persons who construct curricula, teach, and do research from a frame of reference that includes definite purposes for and theories about science education. Suggests the purpose of science education as a discipline is to improve existing procedures and establish new and verified procedures for teaching science.…

This study investigated pre-test scores and number of items correctly answered on a programed lesson as predictors of post-test scores. Students studied either an expository lesson, a programed lesson with minimal instructional support, or a programed lesson with maximal instructional support. Results did not support an aptitude-treatment…

Investigates whether an environmental program including an advance organizer component and a field experience results in an observable change in the environmental orientations of fifth- and sixth-grade students. Results show positive change. (HM)

Discusses the nature of the mind and education. Suggests that society learns more from mistakes than from simply replicating the mind of the teacher in the students. Expresses hope that the next century will be one of maturity in which society is able to see that old knowledge no longer applies to a changing world. (DK)

Suggests that verbal and visual metaphors help academically underprepared students make conceptual connections between their own knowledge and classroom learning. Describes an exercise involving writing about art that helps develop metaphoric thinking. States that in this exercise, students used their senses, prior knowledge, and imaginations to…

This concluding chapter, written by a national leader in higher education, reflects on public scholarship from a perspective beyond Penn State and argues that public scholarship promises to strengthen "that special form of public decision making that we call democracy."

This is a story of two different assessment rubrics, similar in design but different in content area and pedagogical context. One rubric is from a course in the College of Arts and Media in an advanced painting class; the other is from the College of Architecture and Planning in a landscape architecture studio design class. Each rubric is…

Findings about mathematics teachers' beliefs typically involve broad characterizations of those beliefs that are compared with general descriptions of practices. Teacher development research suggests that changes happen effectively from attention to specific practices. Few investigations of beliefs and practices are done at this level of detail.…

This article concerns artistic development within the context of a Master of Fine Arts program in visual arts in Sweden, and presents an empirical study based on repeated interviews with a group of art students. The aim is to contribute to our present understanding of artistic development by focusing on changes in the relation between the student…

Prior work has spent much effort on what is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and little effort on who actually practices the SoTL. I begin to fill the research gap by examining two of the most salient characteristics that structure faculty dynamics and everyday lives--gender and years of experience--and four activities generally…