This paper arises from research into inclusive literacy for pupils with severe learning difficulties who do not learn to read and write conventionally. The ultimate aim of the study was to seek out examples of good practice in teaching and learning literacy that includes students with severe learning difficulties and disseminate them as widely as…

The article discusses a study of 4-5 year old children's use of technology to assist and enhance the acquisition of a play lexicon within a formal educational setting. The new language system to be learned was Auslan, a signed/nonverbal language. A purpose specific software program was developed by the authors, "Auslan Kids," in order to…

For the thirty-seventh year, the Research and Theory Division and the Division of Instructional Design of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) sponsored the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. This year's Proceedings…

The assessment of listening comprehension in a second language has received relatively little attention until recently. This study investigated the effectiveness of providing different types of listening support for learners in a foreign language environment with a low level of English proficiency. The research was conducted with 140 students…

This paper explores peer-peer interactions of children using a spot-the-differences task in an EFL context in Hungary. The children were asked to practise with several sets of similar spot-the-differences tasks and the analysis focuses on the observable changes from the first to the last repetition. After the task performances were recorded, the…

This paper reports an example of a situation in which university students had to solve geometrical problems presented to them dynamically using the interactive computerized environment of the "MicroWorlds Project Builder". In the process of the problem solving, the students used ten different solution strategies. The unsuccessful…

Nine graduate students (teacher-researchers) with an average of 6 years teaching experience (1-15 years) participated in action research to examine the influence of teacher-chosen visual aids (pictures) on children's writing. A total of 165 elementary students participated in the two phases of the research project: 83 boys and 82 girls in…

This study examined the theoretically related constructs of children's empathy, affective responsiveness, and altruistic helping. Subjects were 80 nine-year-olds. Empathy was assessed using interviews with children regarding their understanding of the emotion portrayed in, and their own emotional-cognitive responses to, a set of seven videotaped…

The overhead projector (OHP) is described as one of the simplest and most versatile resources available to the language teacher, yet one that is frequently undervalued and underutilized. It can be used to support classroom practice in many ways: enhancing and expanding group and pair work; stimulating the use of target language by pupils; ensuring…

Designed to help create effective flip chart presentations, this guide contains the basic techniques and helpful hints necessary to produce professional, attention-getting flip charts in a step-by-step procedure format. Five topics are addressed in the guide: (1) eight steps to a successful meeting presentation; (2) advantages of flip chart…

Three groups of 12-month-old infants (10 deaf infants with hearing parents, 10 deaf infants with deaf parents, and 10 hearing infants with hearing parents) were videotaped during free play with mothers. Infant attention state was coded, identifying periods as: (1) unengaged, (2) onlooking, (3) object-attend, (4) person-attend, (5) supported joint…

This study investigates the relationship between speed of recognition and accuracy of the responses when visual mental imagery is controlled through imagery instructions. The procedure was to compare the achievement of learners where the independent variable was imagery instructions. The subjects were two 20-person groups of undergraduates from a…

This paper examines how visual information strategies may be used to facilitate the development of mental models. Topics covered include: definition of mental models; mental models and visual information; mental modeling concepts; power of modeling, including examples related to physical science, mathematics, writing, and depth of processing;…

Color monitors are in wide use in computer systems. Thus, it is important to understand how to apply color effectively in computer assisted instruction (CAI) and computer based training (CBT). Color can enhance learning, but it does not automatically do so. Indiscriminate application of color can mislead a student and thereby even interfere with…

The effect of the interaction between cognitive style differences (field dependence/field independence) and various degrees of visual complexity on pictorial recall memory was explored using three sets of visuals in three different formats--line drawing, black and white, and color. The subjects were 86 undergraduate students enrolled in two core…