Resilient Asian American students, who have shown outstanding performance and achievement in spite of adverse life conditions in urban schools, were compared with nonresilient, or marginal, students who have not done well academically. The focus was on the students' perceptions of their learning environments in mathematics. Other background…

A variety of methods are examined that teachers from preschool to graduate school levels can use in assessing their students; the common principles underlying classroom assessment are explored. The first principle is that the primary purpose of classroom assessment is to inform teaching and improve learning. A second principle is that multiple…

The effects of academic self-concept and the learning environment on science and mathematics achievement were studied in remote and rural Western Australia. The Western Australian School Effectiveness Study explored achievement in 28 urban and rural high schools. In the first phase, survey instruments were developed and piloted in two schools, and…

At one of a series of hearings on H.R. 6, the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1993, several experts discussed issues related to national assessment, assessment in Chapter 1, and state efforts to develop new forms of assessment. Eleanor Chelimsky, Assistant Comptroller General for Program Evaluation and Methodology of the General…

This paper explores issues that designers of learning environments should consider, omitting issues about knowledge learned and the social settings in which learning occurs that are addressed elsewhere. The perspective taken on design is to think of each decision in terms of its costs and benefits, an approach that may allow designers to minimize…

Recognizing that all learning must on some level be voluntary, the author draws on his experiences as an educator to explore not-learning as distinct from failure. The refusal to learn can be a reaction to the conditions of schooling, which many learners, particularly those from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, find irrelevant at best or…

The development of a HyperCard application program, "Connecting to Your MARS Account," is described. The program was intended to assist users of the biomedical computer system at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), the Medical ARchival System (MARS), to connect to their computer accounts. Criteria from instructional, graphical,…

Noting that all Americans are stakeholders in the quest to prevent violence in the critical early years, this Digest focuses on preventing violence in children's lives and suggests ways caregivers, parents, and teachers can reduce the damaging effects of violence. Even before a child is born, violence can have a profound effect upon its life.…

The first (exploratory) phase of the Learning in Science Project focused on science teaching/learning in the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14) and sought to identify problems and difficulties in several areas. Provided in this paper are comments obtained during structured/unstructured interviews (from students, ex-students, teachers, headmasters,…

The first (exploratory) phase of the Learning in Science Project focused on science teaching/learning in the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14) and sought to identify problems and difficulties in several areas. Provided in this paper are comments obtained during structured/unstructured interviews (from students, ex-students, teachers, headmasters,…

This paper identifies five indicators of exemplary efforts and programs that characterize an emerging model for science teacher education reform. These include: (1) defining basic science as content preparation; (2) assessing students beyond content mastery; (3) providing multiple school experiences; (4) working in a semester-long teacher center;…

This paper discusses five specific features of an emerging teacher education model. They include: (1) developing a rationale for teaching science; (2) providing sufficient time for personal change; (3) developing self-analysis skills concerning teaching and learning behaviors; (4) analyzing classroom climate; and (5) modeling teaching behaviors…

Many students, even after formal science instruction, have not developed a scientifically acceptable concept of "living,""animal," or "plant." Therefore, as part of the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, a working group was formed to explore (with teachers) some possible strategies aimed at…

In the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, four groups of people worked on problems identified in the project's second (in-depth) phase. The Chemistry Action-Research Group considered problems related to the teaching and learning of ideas associated with particles and physical/chemical changes. Based on findings during the…

Five years of data related to teachers' perceptions of learning and knowledge were analyzed to ascertain whether differences existed between preservice elementary and secondary science students (N=435). These data were generated from a questionnaire derived from assumptions about learning and knowledge. The assumptions address five areas of…