Describes the distributed practice technique to review course material. Results of a study to compare distributed practice to massed practice indicated that students using the distributed practice technique scored significantly higher when tested two months after practice was completed. (MDH)

Defines memory skills as techniques for increasing initial learning and long-term retention of information, and argues that good memory skills are important. Nine ways in which teachers can improve the ability of students to remember are presented. Emphasis is placed on mnemonic strategies. (SLD)

Describes a demonstration to illustrate the importance of knowing what is supposed to be learned before studying begins. Suggests that the exercise may be used to show the basic elements of a scientific experiment. Explains that attention's effect upon memory is shown by students' tendency to remember best what they are told to remember. (DK)

Discusses issues related to psycholinguistics since second-language acquisition (SLA) research has emerged as a scientific discipline. These issues include the debate about the place of an innate universal grammar in language acquisition, basic cognitive mechanisms underlying SLA, and pedagogical implications of recent developments in the…

Evaluates the use of the multiple intelligences (MI) theory explaining that teachers must critically reflect about the means for introducing MI into the music classroom and consider the integrity of music learning above all. Investigates various types of MI activities that teachers traditionally integrate into their classrooms. (CMK)

In a perfect world, what would a good classroom strategy look like? It would have to work for any teacher at any grade level in any discipline; be backed by current research in learning theory; be elegant and simple to facilitate but differentiate for each student; be cost effective but use a diverse selection of materials; and be active and…

Educators often struggle when teaching cellular and molecular processes because typically they have only two-dimensional tools to teach something that plays out in four dimensions. Learning research has demonstrated that visualizing processes in three dimensions aids learning, and animations are effective visualization tools for novice learners…

This paper investigates the effect of explicit grammar instruction on grammatical knowledge and writing proficiency in first-year students of French at a UK university. Previous research suggests that explicit grammar instruction results in gains in explicit knowledge and its application in specific grammar-related tasks, but there is less…

This paper reviews recent experimental findings that inform our understanding of the development of reading comprehension. Studies investigating children who have specific difficulties with reading comprehension provide considerable information concerning the process involved in successful reading comprehension. This literature highlights aspects…

This document summarizes the results of a study which evaluated whether school instruction with Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) keyboards improves memory skill and whether school instruction with MIDI keyboards improves sentiments toward school and instructional media. Pupils in early elementary grades at five schools were evaluated…

This paper describes the methods used to teach identity formation in a college course entitled "Identity and Society," through an exploration of the autobiographies of several prominant Americans. The three phases of an autobiographical approach to one's present identity are discussed as the search for facts according to criteria, illustrated by…

The purpose of this study was threefold: to determine whether adding a mnemonic to systematically designed instruction would improve verbal retention, to establish whether retention is better for concrete or abstract information, and to determine whether mental imagery or verbal elaboration is more effective for learning concrete or abstract…

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a mnemonic procedure, called the keyword method, for teaching a large Russian language vocabulary to college students. The method divides the study of a vocabulary item into two stages. The first stage requires the student to associate the spoken Russian word to an English word (the keyword) that sounds…

A course in introduction to music emphasizing modes and forms is presented. The approach used is a laboratory approach in which pupils will develop skill in playing wood-wind instruments, sing, listen to, read and compose music with emphasis on identification of elementary concepts of mode and form. Course objectives include: (1) pupil will select…

The effects of visual, and verbal/visual, preorganizers and postorganizers on the learning of unfamiliar information were evaluated in an experimental study involving 153 community college students. Pre- and postorganizers were used in connection with a 20-minute lesson on the theory of communication. A 25-item, multiple-choice criterion test was…