This study addressed whether combining tinkering with digital storytelling (i.e., narrating and reflecting about experiences to an imagined audience) can engender engineering learning opportunities. Eighty-four families with 5- to 10-year-old (M = 7.69) children (48% female children; 57% White, 11% Asian, 6% Black) watched a video introducing a…

This article investigates the incorporation of loose parts as a means to enhance student creativity within educational environments. Loose parts refer to flexible, movable objects that can be manipulated, combined, and repurposed in various ways. The study delves into the theoretical underpinnings that support the connection between loose parts…

Teacher education and social education are increasingly challenged to adopt student-centred approaches by focusing on learning spaces and materiality. This study reports on an integrative literature review to determine how space and materiality are approached in the research literature on playful learning in higher education. A thematic analysis…

The authors recommend practical techniques and resources for teaching at-risk secondary students, who are often nontraditional learners. The article describes tactual and kinesthetic instructional resources that research has shown are effective for typically performing and at-risk students who do not learn conventionally. (Contains 2 figures.)

This study examined the role of perceptions of task difficulty in relation to self-perceptions of ability, intrinsic value, attainment value, and performance. Seventy-nine 8th graders completed surveys prior to task instruction and after the last practice session. Two days later, they completed a skill test. Participants who perceived the Lunastix…

One of five McDonald's Action Packs, this teacher's guide and activity sheets describe an early childhood-level program that introduces basic movement and guides students and teachers into the process of learning through moving. Basic movement skills necessary for sports and games, gymnastics, and dance are developed through eight themes, each…

The educational program of a student with autism most easily and beneficially begins with manipulation of objects. Short periods of time should be allotted to each activity to hold attention and ensure success. Partial participation and an individualized reinforcement schedule are important elements in the instructional design. Assistance in…

A 10-week practicum intervention was designed to reduce deficiencies in 10 kindergarten children in southwest Florida with poor fine motor skills. The intervention consisted of daily instruction and weekly activity tests. Activities included drawing, tracing, cutting with scissors, pasting, molding with clay, various games, lacing, weaving, and…

Discusses methods teachers of young children can use to plan and create interactive, hands-on bulletin boards that make use of moveable pieces. (BB)

A resource and activity guide for the developmentally disabled that focuses on fine motor skills is presented. Attention is directed to fine motor behavior during the first year (vision, grasp, and release and reaching), and behaviors developing at 13 months (the interaction of fine motor and cognitive skills). An introductory section considers…

A resource and activity guide for the developmentally disabled that focuses on methods to teach students skills essential to learning is presented. It is noted that once students begin to acquire these critical skills, they can become active participants in group learning activities, rather than waiting for their turn in individual sessions. They…

One of twenty course guides in the Community Living Skills Guide for the College for Living series, this document provides guidelines and workbook activities for the course, General Experience Course for the Lower Functioning Person. The series of courses for developmentally disabled adults is intended to supplement residential programs and to aid…