Digital technologies have the potential to revolutionize education by enhancing quality, fairness, and efficiency. However, equitable access to these technologies remains a challenge. ILSAs (international large-scale assessments) have shown that the relationship between digital use and performance varies across countries and over time. To fully…

Classrooms are increasingly multicultural in their social composition, and students are increasingly connected, through digital media, to local and global networks. However, pedagogy has failed to take full advantage of the opportunities these resources represent. "Multilingual Digital Storytelling" draws attention to the interfaces…

Discusses constructivist theory and its role in educational reform. Defines the theory as a focus on active rather than passive learning. Relates constructivism to the reflective inquiry approach to social studies. (CFR)

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of students' metacomprehension, or their awareness of their own understanding, and the implications of this awareness for reading instruction. After defining metacomprehension, the digest discusses why this awareness is important to the learning…

This collection of essays focuses on the "strategic teaching" model of cognitive instruction, a model which makes clear the complex thinking process that teaching is, highlights the importance of the teaching/learning connection, and aims at enabling all types of students to become successful learners. The papers consider the varied levels at…

This first volume of a review prepared for the Cockcroft Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of Mathematics in Schools in Great Britain, and its main conclusions were incorporated in their report, "Mathematics Counts." Its aim was to display the main outcomes of research relevant to the teaching and learning of mathematics. The…

To examine the role of elaborations in learning a procedural skill (i.e., using a personal computer) from an instructional text, 88 members of the Carnegie-Mellon University community (students, faculty, and staff members) participated in two experiments. Experimental sessions consisted of a reading period followed by a task performance period in…

Science now offers new conceptions of the learning process and the development of competent performance. This book presents a contemporary account of principles of learning, and calls into question concepts and practices commonly used in schools. Topics explored include how learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain, the effect…

Presents a National Council for the Social Studies position paper. Describes a vision of K-12 social studies teaching and learning to develop levels of social understanding and civic efficacy essential for participatory citizenship. Advocates curriculum content and teaching methods that are relevant, challenging, and active. (CFR)

Many students, even after formal science instruction, have not developed a scientifically acceptable concept of "living,""animal," or "plant." Therefore, as part of the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, a working group was formed to explore (with teachers) some possible strategies aimed at…

Contends that changing climate of educational research and teaching will influence how the arts will be taught in the future. Recommends broadening the disciplinary structure of the arts and design curriculum and the use of collaborative research. (CFR)

A study assessed the effectiveness of three cognitive levels of instruction with first graders--three-dimensional (3-D) instruction using real objects, two-dimensional (2-D) instruction using picture representations, and verbal instruction. The study population included 18 first-grade students between the ages of 6 and 8 at a small elementary city…

Argues that the failure of modern courses to achieve their declared goals in relation to children's understanding of science has two causes, namely teachers views about the nature of science, and a degree of confusion in the philosophical stance implicit in many science curricula. Presents a philosophical model for curricula. (CW)

Popular sentiment toward the teaching of thinking skills and, in particular, higher order skills, is on the rise. Many people are wondering about the best way for teachers to foster the growth of reasoning skills in their classrooms. This study attempts to improve the teaching of reasoning by investigating teaching behaviors or characteristics…

In the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, four groups of people worked on problems identified in the project's second (in-depth) phase. The Physics action-research group considered problems related to the teaching and learning of ideas associated with force and motion, suggesting that children's ideas of these concepts might…