This digest examines the role metacognition can play in the teaching and learning of a second language. Understanding and controlling cognitive processes may be one of the most essential skills that classroom teachers can help second language learners develop. Rather than focus students' attention solely on learning the language, second language…

Schools usually adopt year-round education (YRE) for its cost saving features, but a year-round calendar affects all aspects of a school. The primary educational benefit of YRE is that it facilitates continuous student learning. YRE's effect on the curriculum is more complicated at the secondary level than at the elementary level. While studies…

Like adult education, the field of volunteer management shows increasing movement toward professionalization. The establishment of standards--both for the profession of volunteer management and for volunteer service itself--is generating debates similar to adult educators' debates over purposes and objectives. The types of learning that occur in…

Interactive video can be a very complex learning system, or it can be a simple tool for teachers to use to enhance their instruction. The term has been used broadly in the literature and includes three major aspects: (1) interactive video as storage; (2) interactive video as hardware; and (3) interactive video as learning concept. This digest…

This digest contrasts the traditional view of learning characteristic of classroom instruction with the emerging "constructivist" view that emphasizes the understanding of how and why students learn. The latter takes learning as a knowledge construction process that closely relates to prior knowledge and the learning context. It lends…

The skills of knowing how to learn and apply information, which have been collectively grouped under the heading "learning management," are becoming increasingly important as society progresses farther into the information age. Because adult learning is usually more self-directed and because adults are largely free to determine their…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recently published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." For the first time, these new standards include pre-kindergarten standards, while outlining the mathematics that children should learn as they progress through school. The standards present a broad view of what…

This Digest focuses on motivating the low performing adolescent in a remedial reading or subject area classroom--the idea is that students who are disengaged from their own learning processes are not likely to perform well in school. The Digest points out that such adolescents are often caught in a cycle of failure and that secondary teachers must…

This Digest discusses Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a method developed by H.S. Barrows (1986), and originally created to prepare medical students for real-world problems by letting them solve medical problems based on real cases. The Digest contends that PBL can situate language learning in the real world by posing problems like those found in…

Many facilities in American public schools are in disrepair, a situation negatively affecting the morale, health, and learning of students and teachers. Many schools postpone repairs during tight financial times to pay for academic programs. Some school officials and communities are pursuing innovative, grassroots solutions to maintaining school…

It appears that the value of providing students with strategies to activate their prior knowledge base or to build a base if one does not exist is supported by current research. Creating an opportunity to challenge students to call on their collective experiences (prior knowledge) is essential. Through this process, teachers move students from…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of students' metacomprehension, or their awareness of their own understanding, and the implications of this awareness for reading instruction. After defining metacomprehension, the digest discusses why this awareness is important to the learning…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recently published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." For the first time, these new standards include pre-kindergarten standards, while outlining the mathematics that children should learn as they progress through school. The standards present a broad view of what…

This digest examines the pressures that have led to school consolidation, what consolidation has achieved, the role of community in education, and the ways that school consolidation undermines that role. Belief in the principle of economies of scale and the pursuit of national educational goals related to economic competitiveness have led school…

Research on adult learning shows that there is no decline in ability to learn as people get older, that except for minor considerations such as hearing and vision loss, the age of the adult learner is not a major factor in language acquisition, and that the context in which adults learn is the major influence on their ability to acquire a new…