Emphasizes that the introduction of new technologies in the learning process of second languages should entail more didactic efficiency, educational effectiveness and pedagogical efficacy. Describes the Didascalia framework of criteria for added value. This framework requires an accurate, objective and adaptable specification of the added value of…

Argues the need for an updated and explicit description of language teaching areas generated with reference to a detailed model of communicative competence. Describes two existing models of communicative competence and proposes a pedagogically motivated construct, which includes discourse, linguistic, actional, sociocultural and strategic…

Examines evidence supporting performance-based instructional models. Describes a conceptual model for understanding the alterable elements and outcomes of the classroom instructional environment and analyzes the relative fit of the conceptual model in comparison to two different alternative models. Results support a conceptual model that includes…

Describes a teacher's experience of teaching a class entitled "Testimony, Magical Realism, and the Carnivalesque" which focused on the invention of aesthetic means to counter dominant, silencing discourses of power. Explains that students were asked to select a story from their own lives and were required to tell the story in three…

The Instructional Design Model is presented for planning effective curriculum for gifted learners. The model first focuses on what basic curriculum dimensions are necessary for serving gifted students and then clarifies the fundamental purposes of a gifted program. Next steps include identifying and assessing learning outcomes. (Contains 3…

Suggests that discussions on approaching poetry must begin with addressing the role of the classroom teachers and the attitudes about poetry that they bring to the classroom. Discusses a few general suggestions as to how poetry may be approached in the classroom. Discusses a poetry writing sequence which helps students explore images and…

Empirical studies on teaching content-area information to underachieving or mildly disabled students are reviewed. Instructional options include content reduction, learnable text, content enhancement, use of audiorecordings and computer-assisted instruction, and promoting use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. A content enhancement model…

A process approach to writing instruction with learning-disabled students is presented, in which students are guided through the processes of planning, drafting, and revising text. The model emphasizes the interaction of the teacher and learner through such activities as conferences, prompting, modeling, peer collaboration, and dialogues about…

A discussion-oriented, direct approach to teaching decoding and spelling based on word origin and structure is proposed. The instruction leads students to a comparison and contrast of letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, and morpheme patterns in English words of Anglo-Saxon, Romance, and Greek origin. (Author/JDD)

Presented is an astronomy activity in which students use an apparatus to illustrate the various positions and movements of the sun, earth, planets, stars, and constellations. A test of the heliocentric theory of the solar system is included. (CW)

Shows that two theories of stereochemistry were very different theories, grounded in different assumptions and were intended to explain different phenomena. Presents the original theories and later developments which caused a blending of the theories. (Author/MVL)

Describes a business-writing course based on academic and industrial collaboration and the conceptual model of social communities. (MM)

Dental students were videotaped presenting a child's case presentation to a parent. Students who viewed a model videotape demonstrated a significant improvement in performance from their first presentation. Students who evaluated their own tape showed no significant improvement. (Author/MLW)

Cites numerous research studies stating that the textbook remains the dominant tool in social studies, causing a low regard for the subject by many students. Looks at reading research to provide instructional procedures that social studies teachers can employ to enhance students' understanding of the written materials they encounter. (KO)

Examines two different planning models (creative and rational means-end) used in a teacher preparation program to determine what influence the different planning models had on preservice English teachers' thinking before, during, and after teaching. Finds the creative planning model more effectively encourages active worldmaking. (MS)