Maintains that preschool teachers can encourage meaningful dialogue and enhance learning among young children by asking appropriate questions, using fewer "known-answer" and testing questions, being sensitive to cultural differences, and creating an environment in which the educational goal is conversational equality between teachers and…

To streamline the process of collecting spontaneous language samples, a modified format of the "Multilevel Informal Language Inventory" was administered to 150 public school children, aged four-six. Administration, scoring, and analysis required approximately 35 minutes per child. Scores obtained were used to compute normative data on a…

Explores the few studies that compare the psycholinguistic processes characterizing second language acquisition in the classroom and native-speaking environments. A description of a study that found that, although intermediate Spanish students extensively monitored language usage in both environments, their monitored knowledge was still quite…

Describes a take-home exam story problem based on stoichiometry. Requires the student to determine the percentage of phosphoric acid in a large container of nitric acid if a man fell into it. Provides assumptions, clues, and an acceptable solution. (MVL)

Howard Gardner's view of education for the gifted in 2000 includes individual-centered schools, "intelligence-fair" testing, and mentorships and internships in the community that match students with learning opportunities, allowing them to explore career opportunities and avocations for life enrichment. (MSE)

Discussed are trends in performance across the last three National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessments for students in grades 7 and 11, and reports on indicators of instructional activity. The results suggest that achievement in mathematics has taken a modest upturn in the 1980s. (MNS)

Computer-assisted studies (CAS) attract foreign language professionals' attention due to the reliability of personal computers, the decreasing cost of available technology, and the new generation of students for whom electronic media are a familiar habitat. This article focuses on a project of the Defense Language Institute that produced over…

A conceptualization of test theory is discussed that addresses issues of weight and coverage of evidence for statements framed in recent educational/psychological paradigms. Implications for language assessment built around the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' guidelines are considered. (26 references) (Author/CK)

This study compared the exam performance of 65 foreign students of Dutch whose homework had been regularly checked by a computer program with 62 students whose homework had been randomly checked. On a 100-item proficiency test the former group obtained an average score of 77.2, while the latter group obtained an average score of 65.4. (Contains 21…

Asserts that, on average, women score lower on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Subject Test in Economics. Reports on a study of 149 student scores on the test to identify factors associated with this differential performance. Finds little support for the notion that men are simply better than women in quantitative areas. (CFR)

When multiple-choice answer sheets are printed in the latent-image format, students may be required to select alternatives until they identify the correct one. This provides immediate feedback and permits use of more complicated test formats, but it also introduces novel ways to cheat and may engender substantial anxiety in test-takers unless…

Specific ways in which lectures, laboratories, cooperative group learning, and examinations and grading can be used as part of a strategy to increase pharmacy student interest and involvement in basic science are outlined. The techniques focus on making the presentation of content at least as important as the content itself. (MSE)

Offers suggestions for teaching about the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas. Includes details on teaching definitions about the topic, offering an essay test, and providing a nine-day unit of study on Columbus. Provides a three-item annotated bibliography of works about the explorer. (SG)

Explores the implications for student behavior of different standards. Shows that competition between students does stimulate academic effort provided students are appropriately rewarded for achieving and argues that stratifying students into groups in which each has a chance for success may be preferred to the setting of a single national…

Investigated whether there were differences in retention of language when both visual and auditory stimuli were employed as opposed to just a visual stimulus. It was found that reading-only resulted in higher scores on tests taken immediately, whereas combined listening and reading resulted in higher tests when tests were delayed. (12 references)…