Teachers who understand the dimensions of cognitive style and cognitive control can significantly affect their students' academic performance. This article explains students' information processing system, learning phases and skills, and instructional implications. Teachers can use overlearning and meaningfulness to help students move new…

Examines the roles of subject matter experts (SMEs) and instructional designers and discusses distinctions between the two. Three reasons to distinguish SMEs from instructional designers are explained: the learning process, knowing versus communicating, and allocation of resources. (LRW)

Language teachers are encouraged to find innovative ways to teach vocabulary, particularly illustrating the relationships between words and spatial and temporal relationships in meaning. The concept of the teachable moment is also discussed briefly. (MSE)

It is argued that college students can learn to improve their writing by being taught a number of basic strategies. A distinction is made between weak and strong strategies, and a number of each are identified and discussed. Classroom instructional procedures supporting improvement of skills are outlined. (Author/MSE)

Describes how learning of important strategies in reading and writing is fostered by organizing instruction so that students benefit from both teacher-led and student-led instruction. Discusses text choices, integrating reading and writing with strategy instruction, the teacher-led shared-text pattern, and the student-selected singular text…

Some preliminary observations relating to problems of the semiotic mediation of reality through linguistic tools are presented and discussed in light of the experiences of 12- to 13-year-old Swedish students interpreting a table of postage rates. Learning to use such a tool is a genuinely social phenomenon. (SLD)

Asserts that small group collaborative writing exercises that produce overhead transparencies for large class critique can be an effective method for teaching letter and memorandum construction. Offers a five-step process for encouraging individual and collaborative writing skills. (PRA)

Reviews past research that examined which variables might affect learning from feedback and identifies areas that need further research. Topics discussed include feedback as reinforcement; modeling of the feedback cycle; response certitude; feedback elaboration; error analyses; and feedback and higher-level tasks. (65 references) (LRW)

Argues that language learning is a very useful metaphor for exploring new dimensions of teacher development. The notion is that, when the processes of language acquisition and the context in which it occurs are examined closely, important lessons can be learned for creating a more effective culture for the professional growth of teachers. (GLR)

Discussion of three basic goals of education--retention, understanding, and active use of knowledge and skills--focuses on information processing technologies and educational practices surrounding the idea of constructivism. Highlights include the five facets of a learning environment and the relationship of constructivism and technology,…

A look at curricular reforms and reflection on the evolution of a kindergarten language arts curriculum lead to a description of how one teacher integrated several theoretical perspectives in her practice. An ongoing dialogue between teachers and theorists, researchers, and policymakers would foster a more comprehensive view of the learning…

The more time and effort that a technology education teacher takes to make facilitative responses, the more the student will take responsibility for learning outcomes. Responses focusing on feelings, attitudes and values, clarifying and supporting, and questioning and supporting provide a basis for counseling and interacting with students. (JOW)

Proposes that teaching methods be changed to move away from a positivist model toward an ecological model. Discusses three assumptions for future practice involving holism in environmental studies; the role of values in environmental studies; and the process of learning. (Contains 26 references.) (MDH)

Reviews research and instruction using think alouds. Notes that teachers using think alouds to model strategies implies a model of learning in which teachers construct knowledge and transmit it to their students. Suggests that using students as think aloud models represents a more recent theory of knowledge as socially constructed and represents…

Whether knowledge of cognition affects regulation of cognition was studied with 115 college students assigned to differing levels of self-monitoring ability. Results suggest that most college students possess metacognitive knowledge about their learning, although many do not use this to improve their regulation of test performance. (SLD)