New technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have led to recent discoveries about how the brain works and how people learn. The interactive capabilities of World Wide Web-based instructional strategies can be employed to better match how we teach with how we know students learn. This paper…

Prior research on learning has been linked to instruction by the derivation of general principles of instructional design from learning theories. However, such design principles are often difficult to apply to particular instructional issues. A new method for relating research on learning to instructional design is proposed: Different ways of…

This paper presents a framework utilized in two research projects for mathematics teacher learning based on what is understood about students' mathematics learning. The framework is grounded in a social constuctivist perspective and builds on Karplus' Learning Cycle. A framework for mathematics education identifies a learning cycle that progresses…

Stressing that learning to write is learning to think, a series of workshops showed teachers in the content area how to use writing in their classrooms. Following a brief introduction to the program, workshop participants developed eight guidelines for creating effective writing assignments: (1) make all assignments worthwhile, (2) make them…

Only by examining the way teachers actually use instructional time and engage students in the teaching-learning process can educators gain a clearer understanding of student learning. A critical examination of students' opportunity to learn should include the goals a teacher holds for students and the tasks assigned, the teaching methods utilized,…

This book is the result of the accumulated research of five researchers from the United States and Australia on a school in Coastal Australia. The research team shared a constructivist epistemology and interpreted the qualitative and quantitative data collected over a 10-week period in two classrooms from that perspective. Each chapter discusses…

The best way to teach writing is to make it the way to learn something else. Instructors need to look at written communication as it is used in real life. When students take pains with their writing, it is because what they have to say is important to them. The students' need to communicate a particular meaning for a particular purpose guides them…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two modes of computer-assisted instruction, simulation and tutorial, upon the ability of preservice elementary teachers to understand relationships between a number of concepts dealing with home energy. A number of instruments measuring various dimensions of learning style differences were…

Differentiates between learning efficiency (enhancing the rate of learning) and learning effectiveness (enhancing the mastery and retention of facts, concepts, and relationships). Discusses some of the contributions of knowledge engineering to metalearning. Provides a concept map for constructing knowledge bases, along with some possible…

Describes the learning style inventory and learning cycle developed by David Kolb. Discusses the learning cycle's four stages as concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Offers an example from a chemical engineering class in which Kolb's ideas are used in an effort to improve instruction.…

Describes the cyclical nature of a problem-solving sequence produced from observing children involved in the process. Discusses the generic qualities of science: (1) observing; (2) inferring; (3) classifying; (4) predicting; (5) controlling variables; and (6) hypothesizing. Explains the processes in use and advantages of a process-led course. (RT)

This digest presents an overview of children with auditory processing disorders (APDs), children who can typically hear information but have difficulty attending to, storing, locating, retrieving, and/or clarifying that information to make it useful for academic and social purposes. The digest begins by describing central auditory processing and…

A growing body of research supports a purposeful and transparent approach to learning. Within the field of cognitive science, learning is defined as a purposeful, goal-directed activity. An ongoing goal-setting process is integral to effective learning. Purposeful and transparent learning builds on learners' prior knowledge and experiences to…

A key concept underlying Equipped for the Future (EFF) relates to its contextualized approach to curriculum and instruction. While drawing on the body of cognitive research, research on the transfer of learning is of key importance for this principle. Effective learning requires not only acquisition but also active application of knowledge,…

This book, developed for adult educators who teach or tutor reading in General Educational Development (GED) classrooms and for teacher trainers, contains 18 fact sheets on learning and thinking, each about 10 pages long. The following fact sheets are included: (1) Literature Is Not Science; (2) Making Connections; (3) Mental Models; (4) Thinking…