In this article, we describe the results of a study of chemistry high school teachers' beliefs (N = 7) of the chemistry curriculum and their roles, their beliefs on the teacher as developer of materials, and their beliefs about professional development. Teachers' beliefs influence the implementation of a curriculum. We view the use of a new…

This study explored the use of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach for teaching information and communication technology (ICT) skills to first-year students. Two questions were posed. The first addressed the ICT skill needs of 20 students enrolled in a first-year composition course. The second focused on the use of PBL to facilitate ICT skill…

The purpose of this study was to examine how prior knowledge of cellular transport influenced how high school students in the USA viewed and interpreted graphic representations of this topic. The participants were Advanced Placement Biology students (n = 65); each participant had previously taken a biology course in high school. After assessing…

The broader context of relational aggression in adolescent romantic relationships was assessed by considering the ways such aggression emerged from prior experiences of peer pressure and was linked to concurrent difficulties in psychosocial functioning. Longitudinal, multi-reporter data were obtained from 97 adolescents and their best friends at…

The purpose of this study was to design a culturally relevant curriculum that could be used with English language learning, Mexican American, immigrant, fifth grade children and study the responses they might have to that curriculum. The research questions were: What are the issues in developing a culturally relevant curriculum for Mexican…

This research examines perceptions of special education teachers toward mathematics as related to self as student and teacher throughout a semester-long mathematics methods course. Eighteen alternate-entrant special education teachers provided data in the form of mathematics autobiographical essays and classroom drawings. Autobiographical essays…

In this study, we examined the development of maths skills in 269 Estonian primary school children (119 boys and 150 girls; 20 classes). Testing was carried out over a three-year period (Grade 1-Grade 3). Before the last testing session, children's verbal skills and motivational orientations were also tested. In addition, teachers evaluated…

Presents the psycholinguistic view of reading, which holds that the reader uses his/her prior knowledge of language, facts, and concepts to process language nad comprehend meaning. (FL)

Discusses whether educational technology has kept pace with recent developments in the related fields of psychology and communication science. Addressed are several areas in cognitive psychology: the process of selective perception, semantic encoding, the effects of previous learning, and the influence of metacognitlon. (RAO)

Discusses results of a survey that was conducted to understand and study the barriers to distance training and education. Considered work place; job function; type of delivery system used; individual expertise regarding distance education; the stage of the respondent's organization; and the subject area in which the respondent primarily worked.…

Regarding the accreditation of prior learning of Judaic studies, reviews the difficulties of criterion selection, current accreditation techniques, and those elements of the ultra-Orthodox structure of learning that are salient and problematic in accreditations. Drawing metaphorically on the works of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, encourages…

A survey of selected business schools' credit-granting policies found that they fell into one of three categories: (1) traditional schools that permit students to "test out"; (2) internship schools with formal programs; and (3) work/life schools that give credit for relevant experience. (JOW)

Surveys of (n=200 in 5 schools) secondary school students' preconceptions of probability found that, although these students had had no formal instruction in probability, they did have some notion of the topic. Includes survey. (Author/MKR)

Tests how domain-related knowledge influences inference generation during text comprehension. Examines local and global inferences. Finds that all knowledge groups process sentences involved in local inferences similarly, but not global inferences. Suggests that individuals with prior knowledge use their knowledge actively to generate global…

According to survey responses from 20 British companies (21%), 4 had not heard of accreditation of prior learning (APL), 13 did not use it, and 3 did, although not specifically for management development. Nonusers had some negative attitudes toward APL, dismaying considering its potential role in the competence approach to management development.…