Investigates whether and how "cultural standards" influenced the use of cellular telephones by German and Chinese users. Uses focus groups, usability tests, and a questionnaire to determine how users obtained product information. Reports the varying learning and information-gathering strategies of Chinese and German users in terms of…

Presents research findings and suggestions on how children learn to categorize shapes. Discusses specific ways to present developmentally appropriate activities designed to enhance children's understanding of basic shapes. Contains 12 references. (ASK)

Answers teachers' most frequently asked questions about spelling, including issues related to why English spelling is the way it is; how students learn to spell; selection and organization of spelling words; determining spelling levels; invented spelling; effective instructional activities; spelling strategies; assessment; and adjusting…

This theme issue on knowledge includes annotated listings of Web sites, CD-ROMs and computer software, videos, books, and additional resources that deal with knowledge and differences between how animals and humans learn. Sidebars discuss animal intelligence, learning proper behavior, and getting news from the Internet. (LRW)

Examines the potential of online methods for hypermedia research that allow the recording, analysis, and interpretation of learner/hypermedia interaction. Discusses discourse comprehension research, comprehension of printed text, reading time, verbal protocols, event-related potentials, and interaction protocols in hypermedia research. Contains 56…

Describes a study that investigated the effects of visual control (self-controlled versus system-controlled) and gender difference on learning with scientific multimedia instruction, observed how boys and girls differed in navigating and processing visual information in a hypermedia environment, and examined how visual control influenced learning.…

Presents three research stories from participants in Project ASSIST (All Students in Supported Inquiry-Based Science with Technology), an effort designed to improve the achievement of students with disabilities in the general science curriculum in grades K-6. Describes the project's attempts to bridge the gap between research and practice through…

Discusses the Reggio Emilia (Italy) approach to elementary education that uses the child's artwork as a guide to what the child knows, while the teacher acts as a facilitator. Describes a series of workshops that taught elementary educators in Des Moines (Iowa) how to implement this approach into their classrooms. (CMK)

Reports on an ethnographic study of the online program at the University of Colorado. The study identified five themes of the online learning culture: the importance of human interaction, the student work ethic, personal characteristics, thoughtfulness of student comments in an asynchronous environment, and the instructor's critical role as…

This paper introduces student-centered learning, provides examples of postsecondary student-centered learning practices, and identifies problems and issues associated with adopting, adapting, scaling, and advancing technology-based student-centered learning environments. (DB)

Recommends strategies to engage students in science tasks including match games, scavenger hunts, and science songs. Uses an interdisciplinary approach in the science activities. (YDS)

Assesses the complementary ability of childhood intelligence and learning-related behavior to explain variation in achievement outcomes. Results reveal substantial proportions of assigned grade variance explained primarily by learning behavior and achievement test score explained by intelligence. Implications for educational assessment and…

Explores the idea that play is one of the fundamental processes by which children develop their understanding of the world by looking at play as an intrinsically motivated activity. (WRM)

The Basic School Network, Housed at James Madison University in Virginia, plans lessons based on Ernest L. Boyer's Core Commonalities--a system of eight themes underlying all human experience aimed at renewing early childhood education. Commonalities include the life cycle, use of symbols, membership in groups, sense of time and space, response to…

At times, the whole-language approach to language teaching has been misunderstood. It is a philosophy more than a method or an instructional trend and is more than its separate elements: thematic, authentic, integrated, interactive. Many teachers who embrace the philosophy underlying the approach see their teaching not as promoting whole-language…