Recounts personal experience of moving from a faculty position to a residential learning community position. Discusses how components of the residential college model of education (community, integration, cooperation) make for a very different student experience. Suggests this model represents a viable educational experiment that prizes…

Outlines the types of learning styles and multiple intelligences as well as instructional techniques that work best with students' respective learning traits. (SAH)

Maintains that strengths of Olson and Torrance's work include its balanced focus on child and curriculum. Argues that the book neglects affective, social, and cultural aspects of development. Argues that the book's avoidance of ethnic categorization could encourage or justify avoiding issues of differences in human development and equity in…

Little empirical evidence suggests a causal link between standards and enhanced student learning. This article defines types of standards, presents five theories of action, discusses reforms in Maine and Philadelphia, and summarizes two small case studies suggesting how standards can affect everyday student learning. (Contains 25 references.) (MLH)

Undergraduate students do not always make a clear distinction between physics and mathematics, particularly early in their studies. Offers a simple historical example and show how it can be used to illustrate some of the important differences and relationships between the two. (Author/SAH)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently introduced a tool kit, "Changing the Scene," to help school personnel and community leaders change attitudes toward health and nutrition in public schools. The kit provides information on how the school environment affects children's eating and physical activity. (MLH)

Studied the expectations and preferences of undergraduates with regard to teaching, learning, and assessment. Responses of 395 undergraduates at British universities showed that students expected to be taught by formal and interactive lectures but preferred to be taught by interactive lectures and group-based activities. (SLD)

A study using Metaphoric Triads Task (MTT) of 92 undergraduates found that subjects perceive event metaphors based on similarities in physical movement more frequently than object metaphors based on similarities in stationary characteristics even when presented in still pictures. The results also showed that motion information increases perception…

Examined beginning teacher educators' experiences, describing their beliefs, actions, and efforts to learn about teaching and changes they made when attempting to become better educators. Participants challenged the status quo of the culture of the educational system, the curriculum they taught, and the controlling mechanisms within the academic…

Describes a teacher's reaction to the feedback gained from the administration of Elaine Seymour's Student Assessment of their Learning Gains instrument to her introductory biology classes. (MM)

Reviews school-facility challenges and design principles described in 2000 U.S. Department of Education report on school planning and design. Describes additional school-facility design challenges and planning principles. Describes five critical facility-planning issues for the 21st Century. (Contains 14 references.) (PKP)

A meta-analysis of 20 experiments examining incidental word learning during normal reading shows that students learn around 15% of the unknown words they encounter. Results suggest that several factors affect the probability of learning an unknown word. Presents a model of sensitivity to partial word knowledge. (Contains 66 references.) (SLD)

Examines students' learning and intellectual development while living in formal learning communities in residence halls. Students in residential learning communities had significantly higher levels of involvement, interaction, and gains in learning and intellectual development than did students in traditional residence halls. Participation in…

Addresses how existing theories of implicit cognition may contribute to the understanding of spelling development. Reviews adult literature on implicit memory and implicit learning that may be applied to spelling development. Presents a multilevel model of representational redescription from which to investigate the interrelation of implicit and…

Decomposed the learning in the Kanfer-Ackerman Air-Traffic Controller Task (P. Ackerman, 1988) down to learning at the keyboard level. Reanalyzed the Ackerman data to show that learning in this complex task reflects learning at the keystroke level. Conducted an eye-tracking experiment with 10 adults that showed that learning at the key stroke…