An alternate method of defining the terms "service,""training,""education," and "learning" is presented from the viewpoint of the role changes that students experience as they become medical practitioners. These operational definitions permit new approaches to program evaluation and a new basis for student-teacher discourse. (LBH)

First and second graders' understanding of transitivity for each of the relations "larger than,""smaller than,""longer than," and "shorter than" was investigated. Results showed that on only two of the eight comparisons did the order of presentation of the premises make a significant difference in students'…

Home economics is often denigrated for requiring little intellect. There is a strong cultural bias that undervalues sewing and relegates it to "handedness" instead of the loftier "headedness." According to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, the two do not stand in opposition. Handiwork is a spatial intellectual…

Examines the assessment of work-based learning, noting distinctions between "pure" and "professional" knowledge by offering a genealogy of learning; asserting that the distinction between academic and non-academic learning has become what Dewey termed a false dualism; examining relationships between judgment, activity,…

Asked seven faculty members who have participated in a teaching initiative at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning to write case studies about ethical issues they confronted in their work. Three themes surfaced repeatedly: (1) sharing student work; (2) choosing methods; and (3) the ethics of bad news. (SLD)

Describes the work of the Learning Technology Unit at Queen's University, a midsized research university in Canada, which provides a selection of activities to engage faculty in thinking about educational technologies. A Learning Technology Team brings faculty, librarians, technical support people, and others together to support faculty use of…

An experiment with 109 college students examined the effects of advance organizers and repeating a lecture on test performance. Advance organizers that integrated subtopic information (linear and matrix organizers) increased recall of subtopic information but more general organizers (conventional) aided overall recall, especially general topic…

Reports on the processes and outcomes of practices in a preservice elementary science methods course designed to fathom existing student perceptions of the nature of science and move students from holding individually constructed, typically limited views on the nature of science towards more rich, publicly negotiated views. Uses an…

Points out the effectiveness of student-generated examples as a teaching tool. Examines the roles played by examples constructed and generated by students, illustrates and analyzes the use of this tool, and develops a theory for the act of exemplification as an act of cognition. Introduces a framework developed for this work. (Contains 39…

Studied the effects of a university educational reform project on students' learning and individual differences in students' responses to similar instructional measures. In 2 studies, involving 77 students and 84 in the final experimental group samples (original samples and control groups were somewhat larger), the reforms mainly failed to…

Recounts an experience of developing a new course for school physics in the state of Victoria in Australia at the end of the 1980s. Represents a significant departure from traditional physics courses and was intended to broaden participation and improve the quality of student learning. Explores the reasons for this outcome. (Contains 55…

Discusses how teaching and learning are generally portrayed in children's books. Examines Morley Callaghan's "Luke Baldwin's Vow," noting that this novel deliberately invites the reader to watch the learning processes of its characters. (MM)

Describes the results of a study of the preferred learning style of rural and urban secondary school students. Reports rural students significantly higher in serious, analytical, and active practical learner characteristics than their urban counterparts as well as more observation centered and fact oriented. (Author/DHP)

Argues that excellence in education arises from understanding and meeting the learning needs of students. Discusses a holistic view of school functioning in which staff work together to create a consistent learning environment by defining common fundamental beliefs about learning and the essential elements of teaching. 5 references. (SV)

Two features of a new horizontal conceptualization of expertise are explored. Polycontextuality refers to the multiple ongoing tasks apparent in expert work, and boundary crossing is considered as a cognitive process that characterizes much expertise. Three case studies, one in a Finnish elementary school, illustrate these concepts. (SLD)