The computer software education in vocational schools in Taiwan can hardly be deemed as effective. To increase students' learning motivation and develop practical skills, innovative learning designs such as problem-based learning(PBL) and self-regulated learning (SRL) are on trial in this specific context. We conducted a series of…

This essay shows the range to complexity for assessing academic service learning experiences. Corso recommends that instructors understand expectations for cognition, affective response, and communication competence as they place students into academic service learning experiences and as they assess learning outcomes within such contexts. Corso…

Formal learning usually takes place in a physical classroom. An extension of learning process may continue to occur in a conventional setting where learners get together physically after class hours. In other words, learning may take place within particular zones. Vygotsky's idea of zone of proximal development (ZPD) suggests that learning may not…

This paper is based on the experience acquired in teaching materials science/engineering to first year university students. It has been observed that students struggle with some of the fundamental materials concepts addressed in the module/course. This applies to delivered lectures but extends to the incorporation of tutorial sessions provided…

Although computers are now commonplace within our lives, integration within schools is much less ordinary. While access and training are no longer considered significant barriers, attention has turned to the potential influence of teachers' beliefs. In response, problem-based learning (PBL) has been proposed as an effective approach for changing…

A psycho-medical discourse that explains behavioural dysfunction through neurological deficit has dominated debate about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, if only medical questions are asked, only medical answers will be found, resulting in more or less drug treatment. When behavioural dysfunction results in impairment…

Pragmatic social constructivist teaching methods require students to construct knowledge by engaging collaboratively with realistic problems, cases or projects. It is hypothesized that they are more effective than traditional didactic teaching methods in developing undergraduate students': (1) theoretical knowledge; (2) profession-specific skills;…

This article examines a classroom discussion of multiple interpretations of the scales on two distance versus time graphs. The analysis describes how two students and a teacher used multiple meanings for phrases of the form "I went by" and coordinated these meanings with different views of the scales. Students' ambiguous and shifting meanings did…

The Tutotest is one of the few structured instruments developed for the assessment of students' learning skills in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. This study was designed to validate the Tutotest in a hybrid PBL curriculum. Forty-four tutors completed 370 evaluations on second to fourth year medical students at the end of the first…

By viewing standardized reading tests as a unique genre that could be taught, the author designed a two-week genre study for her reading workshop. The article describes how she planned, taught, and reflected on the unit. This genre study resolved some of the dilemmas she faced around preparing students for mandated testing. (Contains 1 table and 2…

This article explores the reading and written language competency of incarcerated youth and examines the role that literacy plays in recidivism. Suggestions for practice include reading and written language curricular strategies that have empirical validation with this population. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Middle school prealgebra students (n=157) learned about functions in a 20-day unit that emphasized: (1) representing problems in multiple formats, (2) anchoring learning in a meaningful thematic context, and (3) discussing problem-solving processes in cooperative groups. They produced smaller pretest-to-posttest gains on symbol manipulation tasks,…

Teachers and administrators need to select objectives for student achievement in social development. Teachers need to follow definite educational psychology standards in helping students work toward objectives. In the classroom, students should have the opportunity to work with learners from diverse racial groups and socioeconomic levels.…

This set of five papers, written in German with abstracts in English, was collected by the Institut fuer Didaktit der Mathematik (Institute for the Teaching of Mathematics) at the University of Bielefeld in West Germany. In the first paper, Bauersfeld considers domains of subjective experiences as the best issue for an interactive theory of…

This document contains 53 plenary and contributed papers presented at the eighth Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) meeting. Two plenary addresses focused on mathematics research in Australia and Japan, and problem solving and symbolism. Contributed papers were classified under 13 headings including: teaching and learning theory; cognition;…