Investigates issues fundamental to computer-assisted, multicultural education. Studied Asian American middle school students who corresponded electronically with culturally dissimilar students. Findings indicate that students of different ethnic backgrounds may have different attitudes about and knowledge of computers, cross-cultural communication…

Describes a study that analyzed the qualitative features of learning interaction during classroom teaching and learning when mediating modern technological thinking and problem-solving skills for Finnish seventh graders. The learning interaction was organized according to the principles of a cognitive apprenticeship model and applied to a…

Describes a small-scale study conducted with a group of Malaysian teachers on a short language learning course. The teachers kept diaries of their language learning experience, which were analyzed according to themes of barriers to learning and supports to learning. (Author/JL)

Explains the importance of an integrated science class setting in students' ability to engage in decision making and develop skills required to design investigations. Presents an example of a science classroom in which students participate in a guided inquiry activity and design an investigation. Points to the potential of group projects in…

Describes a connectionist model, using a simple recurrent network trained on a phoneme prediction task, that accounts for the child's ability to identify word boundaries. The model shows that aspects of linguistic structure that are not overtly marked in the input can be derived by efficiently combining multiple probabilistic cues. (Author/MSE)

Examines the relative effectiveness of guided versus unguided computer-based instruction with regard to regular instruction in improving content knowledge and process skills among students with low and high chemistry achievement levels. The effectiveness of computer-based instruction increases when learning is supported by teacher-directed…

Describes a study of Taiwan university students that investigated the impacts of incorporating email into the classroom on student achievement and attitudes using a posttest-only control-group design. Results showed a statistically significant difference in academic performance but not in student attitudes toward computers. (Author/LRW)

Reviews recent philosophical debate surrounding the future role and activities of universities in a technological society; discusses the need for new learning models to meet the needs of working adult students; and presents the demand-driven learning model, a collaborative effort between academics and experts from private and public industries…

Explores the perceptions and views of primary school children in exploring, discussing, and rationalizing their use of computers in the classroom based on focus group interviews with students in Wales. Considers work processes; effects on learners' abilities; the finished product; and concerns over originality and authenticity. (Contains 59…

Analyzed a corpus of videotapes in which university students solved physics problems to determine how students learn to understand a physics equation. Found that students learn to understand physics equations in terms of a vocabulary of elements called symbolic forms, each associating a simple conceptual schema with a pattern of symbols. Findings…

Discusses reflective journals as a way for student teachers to evaluate their own learning in a constructivist learning culture. Demonstrates how students integrated intellect and affect and gained insights about themselves and their ways of thinking and knowing. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Recognizes the essential role parents play in teaching and learning, the importance of developing both compassion and intelligence, and a shared responsibility for creating a more equitable world. Focuses on two sets of written conversations that parents and children created after reading texts about civil rights and human rights. (SG)

Investigated effects of inferential questioning, and of the timing of such questioning, on narrative comprehension by 4th, 7th, and 10th grade students and college students. Results indicate that as reading and language skills become more proficient and automatic, inferential questioning increasingly directs readers' attention during reading to…

Current reform efforts are politically inspired, fragmented, unsystematic, atheoretical, and costly. They ignore developmental limitations to student achievement. This article uses Piaget's cognitive notion of development and behaviorist principals of instructional design to support the existence of qualitative and quantitative limits to student…

Three "Handbook" chapters on school leadership responsibilities conclude that educational administration is a field where people can make a difference. Research provides firm indications of what administrators should or should not do. Constructivist teaching, teacher development, and school improvement are part of the larger challenge of…