Defines and discusses metaphors and how people in every field of knowledge use metaphors to teach and learn. Stresses the importance of using metaphors as part of instruction in every aspect of education. (MG)

Reviews materials in the ERIC system dealing with teachers' questioning behaviors. (HTH)

Clarifies the goal of reading instruction in the middle school and draws on the ERIC database for sources that complete the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Reports on the suggested emphasis on reading laboratories and the fostering of reading of expository texts. (JK)

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…

Among the 12 documents selected for this annotated bibliography of documents and journal articles in the ERIC database is an expert's argument that the brain's multipath and multimodal capacities are ignored by educators. Another writer fears that the "back-to-basics" movement may have eclipsed the prominence earlier accorded to thinking…

Reports on programs and activities designed to teach thinking skills either as a separate school subject or as a strand in a content area. (FL)

Surveys the literature on learning style in an effort to help educators become more familiar with the concept. (FL)

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…

Discusses materials in the ERIC system concerning knowledge or schemata children have when they come to class, behaviors a teacher may observe, and suggestions teachers can keep in mind when planning creative activities that support children's meaning-making efforts. (HTH)

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…