Educators have three approaches to learning styles: focusing on the individual, using comprehensive models to adapt instruction to major learning differences, and identifying key elements of an individual's learning style and matching instruction and materials to these differences. One controversial aspect of learning styles is the use of…

An associate law professor recounts the incompatibility of his own professors' analytical teaching methods with her dynamic learning mode. Since learning the 4MAT principles, she has used alternative approaches to help law students move from experiential learning to abstract thought, to practical theory applications, and to development of new…

There are many different reasons why children have problems paying attention. One child might be visually oversensitive and thereby distracted by bright sunlight coming in through a window or by too much color on a bulletin board. Another child, who is oversensitive to smells, might be distracted by the teacher's perfume or by the odor coming from…

In this paper I comment on recent recommendations that students' responsiveness to instruction (RTI) provides a basis for identification of students as learning disabled. I repeat an earlier argument (Gerber & Semmel, 1985) that teachers embedded in schools are naturally variable in their capacity to respond to differences in students' response to…

An alternating treatments design was used to assess the effects of a constant time delay (CTD) procedure and a cover-copy-compare (CCC) procedure on three students' acquisition, subsequent maintenance, and adaptation (i.e., application) of acquired spelling words to reading passages. Students were randomly presented two trials of word lists from…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student centered approach whereby students deal with ill-structured problems while working in small groups. In this study, a path model was utilized to model the relationships among reasoning ability, learning approach, prior knowledge, motivational variables, and achievement in genetics in PBL classes. 126 eighth…

The purpose of this study was to examine individual differences in attitudes toward Audience Response Systems (ARSs) in secondary school classrooms. Specifically, the impact of gender, grade, subject area, computer comfort level, participation level, and type of use were examined in 659 students. Males had significantly more positive attitudes…

Because differences among students in modes of thinking bear directly on teaching methods, the author presented some research that has been done on individual differences in thinking modalities and considered its relevance to teaching. (Author/RK)

Studies of the brain and of the human culture can be used to demonstrate the limits of traditional approaches (based on psychological perspectives which are often narrow and restrictive) to learning styles and to offer additional perspectives on the complexity of learning. The study of the hemispheres of the brain and its triune nature indicates…

This article was motivated by a staff development session when the brass faculty of a conservatoire were invited to share and discuss their approaches to teaching. It presents the results of interviews with six well known woodwind or brass players who have also taught at one or more conservatoires in London for periods of between one and 40 years.…

In a review of over 25 empirical investigations of effects of communicating behavioral objectives to students, several trends were apparent. Advance knowledge of behavioral objectives led to improved posttest performance in five of ten studies and to improved retention in two of three instances. Only two of seven studies found an interaction…

No single approach to teaching writing can suit the compositional styles and habits of all students in a class.

Individualized instruction in industrial arts may be used as a self-teaching method for remedial work and to make possible voluntary, in-depth study in an area of interest to the learner. (MS)

Suggests cognitive style as a conceptual approach to older adult instruction. Summarizes data on younger learners obtained through this approach. Results of initial research indicated older adults prefer the field-dependent cognitive approach to content and methodology. Implications for elderly education are discussed. (RC)