An ongoing study by the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education seeks nominations of schools that demonstrate the highest standard of fit between educational programs and facilities provided. (MLF)

Results from a study involving 34 undergraduates supported the prediction from Paivo's dual coding theory (1986) that imaginal elaborations during lectures assist students' recall of both episodic and declarative information. The prediction that episodic memories would mediate retention of declarative information from the lecture was not…

Describes the association between homework participation and academic achievement and discusses the difficulties that often coincide with homework completion. Reviews interventions designed to address homework problems with particular emphasis on techniques that target the homework problems of students with low ability and/or behavior problems.…

Two experiments involving 153 college students indicated that, given enough time, students studying graphic organizers learned more hierarchical and coordinate relations. As a result, they were more successful in applying the knowledge and in writing integrated essays than were students studying outlines or text alone. (SLD)

One hundred eighteen college students studied a passage as a knowledge map or as traditional text. Half studied already color-coded material, and half color coded the material themselves. Results support effectiveness of knowledge maps and indicate the role of test anxiety in mediating outcomes associated with demanding tasks such as color coding.…

In a recent article, D. Stewart has misrepresented the positions of some of those who view teachers as facilitators of learning. The author defines four principles that represent a sensible interpretation of facilitating learning. The idea of the teacher as facilitator actually holds great promise for improved teaching. (SLD)

The effects of generating versus reading the answers to multiplication problems were studied with 28 2nd graders who had not yet been taught multiplication. Results are explained in terms of a procedural account of the advantage after retention interval for generation. Instructional applications are discussed. (SLD)

Functional relations underlying map-passage learning were studied through the effects of structural hierarchy on recall for 80 undergraduates. Recall for passage content was greatest when content was at the top of the map and passage structures. Implications for instruction are discussed. (SLD)

For families with toddlers in a Mayan Indian village in Guatemala, a tribal village in India, and urban neighborhoods in the United States and Turkey, interviewed caregivers and observed caregivers helping toddlers operate novel objects and put on clothes. Found both similarities and variations among the four groups in caregivers' guidance of…

An experiment with 67 Australian junior high school students demonstrates that presentation of goal-free 2-move mathematics problems, reducing the use of means-ends analysis, prevents the stage effect (increase in errors at the subgoal stage) from occurring. Implications for enhancing learning are discussed. (SLD)

Peter Senge explains how his book, "The Fifth Disciple," will change minds about systems thinking, personal growth, and work. He talks about what led him to write the book and what it takes to become a learning organization. (JOW)

Investigates developmental changes in adolescents' understandings of self-regulatory control. Finds for university students three control beliefs related to academic performance: adaptiveness, inflexibility, and irresoluteness in self-regulation. Finds for secondary students no effects on academic achievement by adaptive beliefs but strong effects…

Comments on the work of Arthur Jensen, specifically "The g Factor" (1998), which consolidates the psychometric, neurophysiological, behavior genetic, and comparative evidence for the existence and importance of a factor of general intelligence ("g"). Discusses Jensen's work on black/white differences in intelligence. (SLD)

Examines instructional, learning, and assessment roles of student portfolios through a survey of 314 teachers from kindergarten through grade 5 from 13 schools. Results suggest that teachers make deliberate decisions about uses of portfolios, decisions affected by the skill level of the child, the purposes of the application, classroom…

An approach to the measurement of knowledge content, knowledge access, and knowledge learning is developed. First a theoretical view of cognition is described, and then a class of measurement models, based on Rasch modeling, is presented. Knowledge access and content are viewed as determining the observable actions selected by an agent to achieve…