As dropout and student disengagement rates reach alarmingly high levels, learning styles theory offers one way to expand teaching methods and curricula to reach more students. Although accommodating individual differences is appealing, nagging doubts and murky research results (detailed in a sidebar) persist. Another sidebar explores culture/style…

Uses descriptive text, diagrams, and specific assignments to discuss the different learning modalities of students. Equipped with this knowledge and the power of instructional diversity, the joy of learning and teaching can be regained by simply transforming materials currently used in the classroom into materials that best fit a student's…

Effective learning requires (1) compatibility of teaching methods and students' learning strategies and (2) consideration of individual ways of dealing with the learning environment. Teaching strategies should generate constructive friction between the learner and the learning environment. (SK)

Total Physical Response (TPR), developed by James Asher, is defined as a teaching technique whereby a learner responds to language input with body motions. Performing a chant or the game "Robot" is an example of a TPR activity, where the teacher commands her robots to do some task in the classroom. Acting out stories and giving imperative commands…

This study explored how, and what type of, procedural instructions influence a trade-off between planning and performance. There is a trade-off if longer planning time shortens performance time, improves performance efficiency, and improves accuracy. The relative effectiveness of nine combinations of illustrated and written instructions for an…

Teaching approaches for adult English as second language students with little previous formal education or native language literacy cannot rely on the traditional written materials. For students who cannot be reached through the written word, approaches must be devised that engage other channels of perceptions. Classroom activities are suggested…

A study was conducted to determine if students who depend on an analytical cognitive style will learn more when matched with a step-by-step treatment, and whether students who depend on a holistic cognitive style will learn more when matched with an all-at-once treatment. To test these hypotheses, scores on the Wechsler Verbal Similarities Test…

There is a void in instructional materials which extends basic patterns in jazz into individualized or creative channels. This article investigates the parallels between improvised music and normal speech and explores the possibility of applying the principles of linguistic methodology to the teaching of jazz improvisation. (Author/KC)

States that cognitive mapping is an instructional strategy that encourages active participation, helps young children see relationships, promotes the organization of information, and allows the teacher flexibility. Outlines a five-step process using cognitive mapping in lesson development. (BSR)

An experiment testing for the learning differences between students who received BBC radio broadcasts as part of instruction and those whose instruction was based on conventional teacher notes. (HB)

Article is based on two main theses: One, qualitative improvements in education will not come about as a result of rhetoric or superficial proposals for solution made by the so-called new breed'' of educator, but rather as a result of a deeper understanding of the teaching-learning process, and the development and use of new and better principles…

Results indicated no interaction between modality preference and reading method. The visual method of teaching resulted in higher achievement regardless of modality preference; however, children with an auditory modality preference were generally superior in achievement compared to those with a visual preference. (Author)

Argues that the metaphor of writing as cognitive mapping can serve not as a basis for a new model or theory of writing, but as an attitudinal guide for concerns with writing and instruction. Notes that the term "cognitive mapping" suggests that the mental world can be seen metaphorically as a physical world. (RS)

Evaluated contributions of age, presentation modality, task demand, and content structure to prose recall variation among adults. Tested 60 young and 60 older adults for recall of ideas in 641-word prose passage. Found recall for total number of idea units was significantly lower for older participants and for auditory presentation across both age…