This study examined the early implementation stages of the Modeling Method of Instruction (MMI) in the science classroom to find the most valuable strategies for effective implementation. In this qualitative study, eleven teachers were interviewed to uncover effective implementation strategies. Interview data were analyzed using the constant…

From early in life, children learn to perform actions on the objects in their environments. Although children learn from observing others' actions, actively engaging with the material to be learned can be important for learning. This study tested whether instruction that included opportunities for children to be active supported toddlers' action…

Reflective practice is considered a highly valued graduate attribute in the field of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy educators influence and shape how students develop into reflective practitioners. Reflective practice requires a set of complex thinking skills that are typically focused on personal experiences and can be broken down…

Motor skill practice is very important to improve performance of medical procedures and could be enhanced by observational practice. Observational learning could be particularly important in the medical field considering that patients' safety prevails over students' training. The mechanism of observational learning is based on the mirror neuron…

This study uses components of action and self-study research to examine the design and enactment of modeling tasks with the goal of developing student modeling abilities. The author, a secondary mathematics teacher, first closely examined the curriculum design and instructional decisions she made as she prepared for a unit on mathematical modeling…

Learning by doing and learning by observing are two facets of the tight coupling between perception and action discovered at the brain level. Developmental studies of observational learning still remain rare and even more rare are studies documenting the capacities of low-functioning children with autism to learn by observation. In the first…

Animated models explicating how a problem is solved and why a particular method is chosen are expected to be effective learning tools for novices, especially when abstract cognitive processes or concepts are involved. Cognitive load theory was used to investigate how learners could be stimulated to engage in genuine learning activities. It was…

Special education teachers often search for effective strategies to teach a variety of skills to students with moderate to severe disabilities through small group instruction. The investigators examined the acquisition of academic skills as well as chained and discrete tasks presented as nontargeted information by a small group of students with…

In an earlier study, we had tested if observing a collaboration model, or alternatively, following a collaboration script could improve students' subsequent collaboration in a computer-mediated setting and promote their knowledge of good collaboration. Both model and script showed positive effects. The current study was designed to further probe…

Offers ways to teach students to understand and appreciate stories not just for their plots but for their stylistic features. Suggests that teachers demonstrate alternatives by rewriting passages in ways different from those chosen by the author, and asking students to describe the differences. Includes classroom examples. (PRA)

A study found that 4 boys (age 11) with mild disabilities were able to acquire the behaviors for instructive feedback stimuli when the stimuli were presented after trials on any of a set of target behaviors and could acquire instructive feedback behaviors during acquisition of or mastery of target behaviors. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Since the publication of their seminal article entitled, "Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models" (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961), the work of Albert Bandura and his co-authors has had an immeasurable impact on the field of psychology, in general, and educational psychology, more specifically. The purpose of this report is…

Two experiments investigated whether six individuals (ages 7-64) with developmental disabilities or autism would demonstrate stimulus classes after observing another individual demonstrate the prerequisite conditional discriminations. Results found that stimulus class technology, coupled with observation, may be an economical and efficient means…

Investigated effects of observational learning on preschoolers' attention to print, use of a questioning technique, and knowledge of the alphabet. Found that young children are able to extract a concept or rule through a brief exposure to observational learning. (SD)

Dynamic classroom role-playing for junior and senior high school classes in literature and acting is an essential ingredient in cultivating characterization and interpretation if a student is to learn the technical skills of performance. Although no simple classroom performance blueprint exists for predicting the degree of success a student…