Briefly reviews current research on the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and microcomputers. The Hawthorne Effect and research results for elementary, secondary, and college level students are discussed, courseware requirements are described, and research studies showing positive and negative effects of CAI are listed. (LRW)

Describes three studies that examined how young children distinguish between the real, physical world and the mental world; between objects and thoughts; and between doing something and imagining it. (HOD)

Reports that children recalled equal amounts of information from male and female newscasters and there was no interaction between sex of newscaster and sex-stereotypic story content. (FL)

Argues that children's books are agents of socialization and examines childhood as a socially constructed concept throughout history. (SRT)

Three research areas relevant to the relationship between writing and reasoning are reviewed: (1) cultural consequences of written language, including changes in reasoning ability; (2) individual consequences of particular writing experiences; and (3) the status of writing activities in American schools. Further research is needed to establish how…

Issues of instructional effectiveness need to be examined at three levels: (1) the context in which instruction takes place and the rewards provided for teaching well; (2) comparison of teaching paradigms; and (3) the knowledge to be learned and the skills that are part of the learning process. (MSE)

Investigates the effect of corrective feedback on the capacity of preliterate children to learn explicit phonetic segmentation. (HOD)

Argues that students should exercise criticism in the classroom, but this criticism should not take the form of mere training in technical skills, indoctrination into a particular conceptual system, or theoretical speculation ungrounded in reality. (SRT)

Discusses various aspects of holistic education: (1) educators vary strategies to meet the educational need; (2) educators promote learning as a lifelong process; (3) educators accept that the learner retains ultimate responsibility for the learning process; and (4) evaluation strategies include all individuals involved in the teaching-learning…

Based on data gathered in a participant observation project that focused on young children's behaviors during school structured literacy tasks, a study examined the relationship between learning to write and learning to perform school writing tasks. (HOD)

Sixth graders (n=124) were tested for their perceptions of self-efficacy with print and TV, perceived media realism, and attributions of failure and success with each medium. The amount of invested mental effort (AIME) and achievement were measured. The roles of a priori perceptions and AIME in learning are discussed. (Author/BS)

This article examines how one business school measures performance, based on a "value-added" model. Addresses the need to know the results of the teaching-learning process, other than through course grades; to develop a system for determining to what extent students are actually benefitting from their training experiences; and to provide critical…

Reports on a study that investigated which of four modes of reading (oral reading to an audience, oral reading to oneself, silent reading, silent reading while listening) best facilitates fifth-grade students' comprehension. Concludes that for these students as a whole, comparable comprehension may be expected when they read to themselves or read…

Outlines a program that allows high school students to produce their school newspaper in the offices of the "Bellevue Journal American." (DF)

Offers a letter written to students enrolled in a semiotics of art class outlining the theory of a negotiated curriculum and the reasons for experimenting with it in the course. Interspersed between paragraphs of the letter are personal reflections on the strengths and shortcomings of the process. (HOD)