When taught to link sorting to self-instruction ("I'm looking for blue triangles") children show perfect accuracy in sorting. This study investigated if this performance would generalize to new stimuli. One participant showed near-perfect generalization to all new stimulus sets (shapes, letters, pictures); two had difficulty with…

Provides a holistic model with five primary factors that affect the overall ecology of a distance-learning experience, including consideration for course delivery, instruction quality, student participation and involvement, course and program administration, and the culture of teaching and learning. (Author/LRW)

A study of an 11-year-old boy with speech-language disorders investigated the effectiveness of an intervention protocol designed to increase the child's elaborative word knowledge of sets of words for which he demonstrated naming problems but comprehended. The child was able to decrease his naming response time and error rate. (Author/CR)

Discusses changes in ideas about learning underlying reforms in science education. Highlights experiences with project-based science, which focuses on student-designed inquiry organized by investigations to answer driving questions, including collaboration among learners, new technology, and the creation of authentic artifacts that represent…

Discusses the historical elements related to the U.S. kindergarten development. Notes that while parents disagree on kindergarten content and quality, they strongly favor its existence for offering their children an academically competitive edge. Questions if kindergarten is a first step in public primary education or a last step in developmental,…

Examines whether observers perceptions differ if they were informed of the proximal instructional goals than if they were not informed. Classifies music education majors written statements (n=120) after viewing one of three randomly assigned stimulus tapes. Found non-informed subjects wrote more teacher-directed, inferential, and positive…

Narrative analysis of interviews with 11 HIV-positive adults in 1995, 1998, and 1999 found the following: (1) perspective transformation remained stable; (2) changes in meaning schemas in 1998 had been acted on; (3) new meanings included increased appreciation for the human condition and an expanded view of intimacy; and (4) social interaction was…

An overarching learning theory is presented, based on assumptions that all learning includes (1) external learner-environment interaction and internal acquisition and elaboration and (2) cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions. The framework depicts four types of learning: cumulative, assimilative, accommodative, and transformative. (Contains…

Investigates the use of code switching in first-year learners of Danish. Points out that code switching appears as a skill used in early attempts of playing with the languages involved in the conversation. Acknowledges code switching as an increasingly sophisticated language skill even a an early stage of second language acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Describes computation of a continued radical to approximate the golden ratio and presents two well-known geometric interpretations of it. Uses guided-discovery to investigate different repeated radicals to see what values they approximate, the golden-rectangle interpretation of these continued radicals, and the golden-section interpretation. (KHR)

Examined dissonant forms of teaching and their relation to student learning. Found that in units of study, students report a higher quality learning experience (deep approaches), and the relationships between approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching context are consonant and coherent for the more senior teachers. In units of study in…

Discusses factors that contribute to powerful learning experiences based on the results of two studies that examined diverse groups and more coherent groups of individuals. Topics include the highly individual nature of learning; problems that can create for instructional designers; relevance of learning to life and/or work; active learning; and…

Describes similarities and differences between modeling cycles and stages of development. Includes examples of relevant constructs underlying children's developing ways of thinking about fractions, ratios, rates, proportions, or other mathematical ideas. Concludes that modeling cycles appear to be local or situated versions of the general stages…

Describes a course that uses student-designed laboratory experiments for a one-semester, junior-level physiology course. Discusses advantages and pitfalls of using this methodology. (Author/KHR)

Compares the effects of three different teaching methods: (1) traditional instruction through listening to a lecture, reading, and participating in discussion; (2) instruction with teacher-constructed self-teaching resources; and (3) instruction with student-constructed self-teaching resources. Determines their effectiveness and the time required…