The relative effectiveness of explicit instruction, guided discovery, and discovery learning techniques in enhancing anticipation skill in young, intermediate-level tennis players was examined. Performance was assessed pre- and postintervention, during acquisition, and under transfer conditions designed to elicit anxiety through the use of…

Contract learning is an approach to classroom instruction that emphasizes teacher-student collaboration in the teaching-learning process. Participation in instructional decision-making encourages students to take responsibility for what happens to them, and it engenders a greater sense of commitment to the outcomes of the music program. In music…

This article examines one US high school teacher's attempt to become a coach by enacting what I call "a pedagogy of negation". For this teacher, the challenge of becoming a coach is nested within a wider agenda of social and personal transformation. That agenda is symbolized first in words as she constructs "a language of coaching" to inform her…

Research has shown that knowledge instruction alone is a poor agent for influencing changes in behavior (Bruvold, 1990; Morrison et al., 1994; Valente et al., 1998). Successful outcomes of interventions in education and performance improvement involve more than knowledge gains. Furthermore, a growing body of researchers from different areas have…

Music education research today continues in well-worn paths. While it may be productive in quantity, it is not clear the degree to which it informs current music teacher education or has produced advances in teaching practice. Indeed, as some critics of university-based teacher education research have argued (e.g., Boyer 1990; Schwandt 2005), such…

The historical roots of cognitive styles are traced in differential psychology, psychoanalytic ego psychology, gestalt and cognitive-developmental psychology to illuminate the varied theoretical issues that energize (and fragment) style research. Optimal measurement of cognitive styles as information-processing regularities and as intra-individual…

Surveys were conducted of two multi-state samples of educators, who provided ratings of the importance of two preliminary versions of the classroom performance assessment criteria being developed for The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers(TM). One sample, with 114 respondents, was chosen primarily on the basis of its…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether the use of multiple in-class student evaluations of instruction coupled with instructor consultations with students would subsequently alter end-of-term student evaluations of instructional performance. A nonequivalent control group design was used with 18 classes and approximately 400 students…

This digest discusses factors affecting the achievement of gifted minority students, particularly Black students. Problems associated with underachievement definitions and the influence of social, cultural, and psychological factors on student achievement are examined. Suggestions and recommendations for reversing underachievement among gifted…

This document contains papers and transcripts from a university faculty colloquium which shared views about teaching methods and information on successful approaches. Following a copy of the colloquium announcement and a brief introduction, the main section presents transcripts of the presentations. The first discusses the structure and role of…

A study investigated the effects of actively involving students in a social studies methods class on instructor evaluations given by students. Subjects were 30 undergraduates who were all elementary education majors except for one special education major. Subjects (27 female and 3 male) ranged in age from 21 to 53 years old. The experimental…

Constructivism is the theory that people learn by constructing meaning through interpretive interactions with the social environment. Constructivist perspectives are a growing influence among educators seeking to help students connect learning with life experiences, making constructivism highly relevant to vocational and career educators. This…

Self-regulation refers to the process whereby students activate and sustain cognitions, behaviors, and affects, which are systematically oriented toward attainment of goals. Effective self-regulation requires that students have goals and the motivation to attain them, and maintain a sense of self-efficacy for learning and performing well. A social…

This book is intended to assist in using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition as tools for identifying a child's strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of improving academic and behavioral functioning. The first chapter focuses on using the…

This paper describes the Teacher Assessment Project at Stanford University, which is currently examining the use of performance-based methods for assessing teachers' competence. The research outlined in this work-in-progress explores the feasibility of documenting teaching through the use of portfolios. The paper identifies three…