This study examined the relationships among college students' perceptions of their personal (constructivist-based) learning environments, the extent to which they viewed selected teaching and learning activities as enhancing their personal learning, and their personal learning efficacy. A total of 2,190 students in 145 evening classes offered by…

During the 1990s discipline-specific associations have attempted to reform education with a variety of visions and standards. Most of these efforts have been independent of one another with minimal cross-curricular input on one another's steering committees and working groups. In some cases there appears to be explicit collaboration between…

The conceptual focus of this study centers on a key aspect of improved schooling: the development of sophisticated thinkers in the K-12 sequence of education. The document is organized into four major sections. The first section describes how the theoretical bases of a thinking skills program are developed and rooted in the literature. In section…

The development of written language and its functions were studied for 236 second graders (from four locations in the surrounding Birmingham, Alabama area) in 6 traditional and 6 writing process classrooms. Pen pal letters to undergraduates and written samples were obtained from three students from each class. Writing process classrooms reflect…

Designed for current and prospective instructional design (ID) professionals, this book focuses on developing and improving competencies associated with ID work. It is intended to take up where "Instructional Design Competencies: The Standards" (1986) leaves off. Chapter 1 defines ID, describes it as an emerging profession, and summarizes key…

This paper examines eight studies that utilized film or videotape to enhance motor performance through modeling or self-examination of performance. The studies, dating as far back as 1944, dealt with learning bowling, golf, basketball, throwing, gymnastics, racquetball, and other motor tasks. For each study, the paper outlines the problem, the…

This study was conducted to examine the views of seventh-grade students in Finland with regard to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Data were gathered by a questionnaire survey, with follow-up interviews to validate response reliability. Fifty junior high school mathematics teachers in southern Finland were asked to present the…

Student learning is the bottom line for nearly all efforts to establish a national test system. Major efforts in this area are summarized in this paper. The various efforts seem to move ahead independently, but some common ideas include: (1) creating a national assessment system rather than a single test; (2) developing more than multiple-choice…

Instruction based on learning styles has received little attention in the recent reform efforts in mathematics education. The purpose of this book is to address the improvement of mathematics instruction through sensitivity to learning styles. The introduction discusses the scope and rationale of the book. Chapter 2 documents the need for…

The impact of portfolio assessment, specifically writing portfolios, on the norms of classroom assessment practices were studied in two English Language Arts classes in a middle class suburban high school in the Los Angeles (California) area. Data were gathered through observations and interviews, and the examination of 25 student portfolios, with…

High school social studies students (n=448) were each assigned to one of 16 groups defined by possible combinations of two teacher uncertainty conditions (uncertainty vs. no uncertainty), two teacher "bluffing" conditions (bluffing vs. no bluffing), two lesson discontinuity conditions (discontinuity vs. no discontinuity), and two lecture notes…

As oral communication becomes a more substantial feature of courses in disciplines other than speech communication, faculty members in other disciplines need to develop the ability to assess oral communication competence in their classrooms. Faculty development workshops can teach colleagues these skills, using consultations with faculty members…

This document presents an evaluative description of the evolution of a competency based methods course in special education. The course evolved as a function of continuous process evaluation developed out of the realization that it was unnecessary to teach completely separate methods courses in special education for teacher certification in the…

This document records a study made on the amount of time students spend on academic learning. Data were collected in two different ways: (1) Teachers kept logs of the content of instruction and the amount of time spent in different content areas. Records of individual students were kept throughout the year, first on a daily basis and later on a…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 22 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the relationship of reading achievement to self-concept in third and fourth grade gifted students; (2) perceived teacher effort and student achievement in…