Teaching must arrange environments so learners can make maximum use of these educational environments. Effective educational systems must begin with teacher training. Instructors must show mastery in the areas of subject matter, techniques of delivery and getting to know the learner. Better educational systems and testing techniques are needed.…

A principal of a New York elementary school describes how implementation of a testing program to determine individual learning styles and modification of the instructional environment to meet individual learning-style needs has been received enthusiastically by teachers, parents, and students. (DB)

Examines current concepts of remediation in considering their appropriateness for application in the social studies classroom. Concludes that special needs teachers and subject area teachers should collaborate during all phases of instruction in order to provide the best learning environment. Points out the need for training in adaptive teaching…

To shift educational research's focus from the rigorous study of individuals to whole learning environments, a systemic view of the classroom is proposed, with a list of seven generic components of the classroom environment. L. Guttman's Small Space Analysis is used, and a science teaching project illustrates the discussion. (SLD)

Explores the implications of schema theory and research from cognitive psychology for improving social studies education. Identifies some specific techniques for improving instruction. Suggests conceptualizing differences between children of different ages according to their cognitive processes and structures. Describes some anticipated…

Differentiated instruction is an umbrella concept that allows teachers to pull together many disparate messages about multicultural education, alternative teaching and learning strategies, alternative assessments, learning styles, and standards. Developing a range of instructional strategies represents a fine tuning, not a new instrument. (MLH)

In order to examine the influence of interactive media on children's story memory, first-grade children experienced a computer-based story in one of four presentation modes, two of which were interactive. In the interaction groups, there was no relation between the amount of interaction with the story and subsequent memory. (Author)

An adult read to 12 children from a regular paper book. Twenty-four children explored a similar electronic book. For half of this group, the electronic book was with and for half without restrictions on games. Regular book format was more supportive of learning story content and phrasing; both formats supported internalization of features of…

One hundred forty fourth graders were asked to solve proportion problems about juice-mixing situations both before and after an intervention that used a manipulative model or other materials in three experiments. Results indicate different approaches appear to be necessary to facilitate children's proportional reasoning, depending on the reasoning…

When presented with the option to use a new instructional technology, students often face an approach-avoidance conflict. This study explored promotion and prevention orientations, concepts linked to approach and avoidance in Higgins's regulatory focus theory, in the choice to attend lectures or watch them online. Openness, a core disposition in…

This article presents the results on the effects of professional development in context by examining how much average change over time there is in different dimensions of teaching practice. In particular, three years of data on teaching practice are used to describe trends and differences across teachers and schools in the three broad aspects of…

This study seeks to document teachers' conceptions of communicative language teaching (CLT) and to compare their conceptions with a composite view of CLT assembled, in part, from researchers' accounts of the distinctive features of CLT. The research was prompted by a review of the relevant research literature showing that, though previous studies…

In this article, the author states that gifted student population is itself diverse, with variability in intensity, maturity, risk-taking, creativity and degree of giftedness, among other traits. Appropriate services are equivalent to a life preserver; the opportunity to spend time with others who are sufficiently similar in ability, interests and…

This book analyzes the nature of differences among students in terms of grade levels of academic abilities. How these differences have emerged, and what teachers can do to address such varied abilities in their classrooms are discussed. Chapter 1, "The Nature of the Educational Challenge," examines just how extensive these differences…

This paper draws on baseline data from the National Center for Research on Teacher Education to examine the approaches to learner diversity held by prospective teachers participating in five U.S. teacher education programs. Four layers of meaning given to the concept of diversity are proposed: individual, categorical, contextual, and pedagogical…