The ultimate learning environment is the Internet itself. Digital media are helping educators and students shift from linear to hypermedia learning; from instruction to construction and discovery; from teacher- to learner-centered education; from absorbing to synthesizing material; and from school-time to customized lifelong learning. (MLH)

This book draws on classroom experience to provide models of instructionally sound, thoughtful, and thought-provoking history teaching for students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Most chapters begin with a classroom vignette showing a community of inquiry as students are actively engaged in their history education. Each vignette offers a…

The goals of social studies--defined as thinking, understanding, attitudes, and skills--are considered within the framework of a cognitive and an affective taxonomy of educational goals. The first lesson in this series of lessons on social studies instructional strategies deals with modes of inquiry and with the value of responsible consent and…

The general purpose of this paper is twofold. One is to survey the research and literature on the learning of oral and written language in the elementary schools. The other is to propose a statement of needs, objectives, and components for an oral and written language program for elementary grade children. The method used for this study consists…

This guide to designing activity-oriented classrooms for grades K-3 is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of research findings concerning the way children learn and the environments that best facilitate their learning. Chapter 2, which explains ways to set up an activity-oriented classroom, covers the administration's role…

Teachers and teacher educators seem to be little aware of some major concepts about instruction that provide important insights into the central requirements for learning. A common misconception is that motivation has to do with wanting or desiring. It is instead attention to stimuli that is influenced by two powerful agents--(1) suspense,…

In this paper the author relates her experiences as an advisor to elementary school teachers on the subject of building curriculum. The philosophy expressed in her narrative is that learning begins when children seek the answers to their own questions and that curriculum can be developed out of children's immediate environment. The teacher must…

Discusses a unit to teach reasoning and problem solving skills by helping students develop a systematic approach to problem identification, gather and analyze data, arrive at inferences and keep from jumping to conclusions. Describes the development of an activity investigating liquids designed to foster the needed problem-solving skills. (JM)

This study was designed to determine students' abilities and difficulties in articulating the relationship between function and derivative. High-school students were presented 15 problems during two 75-minute interviews in which they were asked to construct functions experimentally in three different contexts: motion, fluids, and number-change. In…

Suggests that learning comes about by recognizing anomalies, experiencing doubt, and making subsequent changes, and uses a study undertaken in a classroom for learning disabled students to illustrate. (JC)

Discussion of teaching complex knowledge domains through exploration highlights two experiments that investigated the educational value of a Dutch computer simulation program which models the relationship between erosion and agriculture in a developing country as part of the secondary school geography curriculum. Learning by doing versus learning…

Previous research has shown a relationship between formal reasoning ability and science process skill attainment. It has been hypothesized that an increased emphasis on teaching process skills might enhance the formal thinking abilities of students. A variety of strategies have been proposed to better accomplish this task, most notable, the…

Presents an account of a week of learning and instruction from a high school physics course to provide a context for discussion of the role and demands of teacher inquiry. Argues coordination of student inquiry and traditional content is a matter of discerning and responding to students' particular strengths and needs. (Author/KB)

The purpose of this guide is to provide teachers with information that will help them better understand how to teach science. In addition, this resource is intended to be a tool in assisting teachers in developing their science curricula and in planning their instruction. The instructional approach presented reflects the philosophy that students…

Architectural solutions to some educational problems are explored and a systematic method is presented for designing schools as learning environments for children. Classroom environments and outdoor play areas are considered as functional art forms and seen as three-dimensional textbooks. The book demonstrates a way of using curriculum as a design…