Student focusing and noticing, which drive reasoning, are important but under researched aspects of student learning. Quadratic functions representations are perceptually and conceptually complex and thus, offer much for students to focus on and notice. Our study compared a teacher's goals for student focusing and noticing during quadratic…

The purpose of this study was to explore a 'taken-for-granted' and often over-looked element of the clinical preparation of teacher candidates--classroom observation. Practice-based pedagogies of teacher education with roots in the philosophy of John Dewey served as a conceptual frame for interviews with teacher educators in the United States and…

In this paper we present preliminary results on a study on the effect of instructional method (observational learning and learning by doing) and reflection (yes or no) on academic text quality and self-efficacy beliefs. 56 undergraduate students were assigned to either an observational learning or learning-by-doing condition, with or without…

Much is known about preschool children's mathematics learning and the role of play in that learning. Many early childhood educators are quite adept at observing and documenting the mathematics learning of the children in their settings. These teachers "notice" the children's mathematics but they are not the only ones to…

The importance of play in child development and the barriers that individuals with autism face regarding play skills requires us to identify specific interventions which can assist in the development of such skills. Stimulus pairing, which has been documented as a procedure by which an event comes to elicit a response by being paired with an event…

The study compared the effectiveness of peer and adult models in teaching an expressive language task to four autistic boys (9-11 years old). Ss had well developed imitative repertoires and some spontaneous language. Using a BCBC design, counterbalanced across modeling conditions and replicated across Ss, autistic Ss were taught to respond to…

Traditional perspectives on children's fears and anxiety neither provide satisfying answers to fundamental and important questions nor provide paths to effective clinical intervention. Recently, investigators assessing and treating phobic children by means of active, multi-layered, coping-oriented, temporally extended, and child-centered methods…

The effectiveness of students' modeling teacher behaviors as a means of bringing about desirable classroom decorum and skill achievement is discussed within the context of physical education classes. (JD)

Effects of symbolic modeling processes on exploration were investigated. Written narration reporting a novel experience was the symbolic model. Subjects read the material 1 or 3 times (Familiarity), with 1, 8, or 15 inserted exploration statements (Frequency), where such statements were specific or diversive (Exploration Type). With increased…

This paper examined the connection between learners' metacognitive processes and their construction of personal meanings. Some concepts of the metacognitive processes such as strategy selection, planning, progress monitoring, and evaluation are reviewed. Noting that in spite of a lack of research literature in direct relation to the specific area…

Three randomly assigned groups of sixth grade students watched a videotaped white female model present sets of responses to a creativity test categorized as low flexibility, low originality; high flexibility, low originality; and high flexibility, high originality. A randomly assigned control group viewed the same videotaped model giving…

An experimental investigation of the transition from associative play to cooperative play was conducted to determine if cooperative play in young children could be facilitated by (1) presenting a toy that required cooperative responses to make it operate, and (2) instructing the children in the use of the toy prior to having them play with it. A…

This study investigated the effect of being imitated on the behavior of preschool children. Twenty-two children were employed in a "marble game," which consisted of dropping a marble into one of three holes in a wooden box. Procedure trials occurred across four phases in an ABAB design: baseline, imitation, reversal, and imitation again. During…

For one of a series of related assignments, students were to ride a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus or commuter train through the heart of Chicago, to experience the contrasts among the people there, and to write about what was learned. The students were to take an analytical view: What does this collection of images tell the student about the…

This paper describes the production of three 30-second prosocial television spots and the evaluation of the effects of these spots on children's behavior. The psychological process of observational learning was used to conceptualize the way television viewing influences children's behavior; the three stages of observational learning (exposure,…