Provides an overview of a six-year collaborative literacy project. Discusses several key elements, processes, and beliefs that played a crucial role in the transformation of literacy practices in a small K-8 school district. Discusses time for growth, literate and thoughtful inservice sessions, imaginative expansion of roles, ongoing support and…

The central idea in W. Edwards Deming's approach to quality management is the need to improve process. Outcome-based education's central defect is its failure to address process. Deming would reject OBE along with management-by-objectives. Education is not a product defined by specific output measures, but a process to develop the mind. (MLH)

Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…

Describes a study that compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and lecture approaches in teaching vocal anatomy and function to 60 undergraduate music students with different learning styles. Highlights include background on learning styles, implications for the use of CAI with various learning styles, and recommendations…

Describes learning environments, including cognitive flexibility hypertexts, anchored instruction, and computer-supported intentional learning environments. A brief history of educational technology is presented; and problems with open learning environments are discussed, including inappropriate learning theory, deficient metacognitive skills, and…

Discusses research findings that relate to teaching fractions for conceptual understanding. Gives teacher/student dialogues that illustrate the thought processes of students as they form part-whole and improper fraction concepts. (MDH)

Diagnosis of cognitive learning skills could be the first step to reducing painful learning environments. Every student has an individual learning style and different cognitive learning abilities. Teachers need to be aware of these differences and modify instruction based on the student needs. (MLF)

Describes an innovative program assuring teachers and students access to success-based lifelong learning. Describes how students at Silver Lake College engage in a self-assessment process which helps them identify the strengths and possible weaknesses managing college-level work. (PRA)

Highlights some theoretical aspects of an alternative architecture for intelligent tutoring systems, introduces a prototype research tool in the domain of workcell scheduling, and suggests future theoretical and implementational work. Topics discussed include the roles of the user as domain expert and learner and the representation of domain…

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)

A scale of processes found most constructive for second-language learning was validated with two groups of adult French students. Instruction of one group included use of the scale. Pre- and posttests of language learning and use of processes suggest that unsuccessful language learners can be taught to improve performance. (31 references)…

Describes G. Kelly's repertory grid and autobiography, their application in educational research, how they might be applied to research into teacher thinking and student thinking about the process of teaching and learning, and ways they can be combined to raise teachers' and students' constructs to focal awareness. (RLC)

Reports on a study of 198 Canadian children, ages 4-8, on their understanding of the role of evidence on the formation of beliefs. Finds that younger children evaluate opinions based on their own beliefs about the situation; older children tend to ascribe knowledge to others on the basis of evidence available to those others. (CFR)

Four experiments supported the hypothesis that, when learning to use equipment such as computers, if the material to be learned has an intrinsically high degree of interaction between elements, then learning might be facilitated by not having the equipment present. Thus, an analysis of intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load can lead to…

Young adolescents have diverse learning needs. If teachers accommodated the complete learning cycle by designing instructional units that began with romance activities, led to precision opportunities, and culminated in generalization projects, students could develop their diverse talents while avoiding boredom with uninspiring precision…