This document explores problems described by learners of second languages at the university level. It reports on three case studies drawn from a language advisory service at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. An understanding of the range of experiences learners report in a given learning context is likely to shed light on ways in…

This book examines an approach to teaching adults, in which teaching and learning are integrated and where the learning task is the overall design, incorporating the lecture or input along with practice. In 12 chapters, the book challenges the reader to describe the difference between teaching tasks and learning tasks and to examine both the…

This book describes the unique characteristics of visual-spatial learners and teaching techniques designed for this population. Following a quiz to identify visual-spatial learners, chapters address: (1) how visual-spatial learners think and the plight of being non-sequential; (2) the power of the right hemisphere, eye movement patterns, and…

A growing body of research supports a purposeful and transparent approach to learning. Within the field of cognitive science, learning is defined as a purposeful, goal-directed activity. An ongoing goal-setting process is integral to effective learning. Purposeful and transparent learning builds on learners' prior knowledge and experiences to…

A key concept underlying Equipped for the Future (EFF) relates to its contextualized approach to curriculum and instruction. While drawing on the body of cognitive research, research on the transfer of learning is of key importance for this principle. Effective learning requires not only acquisition but also active application of knowledge,…

The goal of this book is to increase the usefulness and relevance of research to educational practice, particularly in the area of improving student learning. It proposes and describes an experiment: the establishment of a Strategic Education Research Program (SERP). The SERP plan calls for a large-scale and sharply defined program of research,…

This paper is a case study of a middle school in the Midwest that was involved with a national project over a 3-year period in trying to create a professional learning community. The case study includes background, areas of focused reflection, a school profile, case questions to stimulate dialogue and problem-solving, and author's reflections. The…

This book, developed for adult educators who teach or tutor reading in General Educational Development (GED) classrooms and for teacher trainers, contains 18 fact sheets on learning and thinking, each about 10 pages long. The following fact sheets are included: (1) Literature Is Not Science; (2) Making Connections; (3) Mental Models; (4) Thinking…

The goals of this study were to investigate problem-solving in a context that requires a rich interaction among social, motivational, and cognitive processes and to compare the effects of the mediated and discovery models of learning on students' problem-solving processes in the complex technology-based learning environment. Subjects were 88…

This document describes what Palomar Community College District (California) is doing to address a pressing need in higher education: the need to produce more and better student learning in exchange for the state's education investment. The need is especially crucial in regard to the greater number of under-prepared students who are entering…

This paper reports research into the effectiveness of cooperative social support groups as a means of empowering students to solve their own personal and social problems. A descriptive study using ethnographic techniques was used in the natural setting of one fifth-grade elementary school classroom. Theoretical framework involves the…

This study evaluated the effects of instructional scaffolding interventions (ISI) on preservice teachers' knowledge structures (e.g., concept maps) and short essay responses over time. Participants were 60 preservice teachers from two universities who were enrolled in one of three introductory psychology courses. One course was used as the…

This paper describes the Learning IN Communities (LINC) integrated curriculum project implemented at the University of Central Florida. The report reviews two programs initiated in the fall of 1998, a Biology-English-Statistics class and a Calculus-English-Humanities class. The paper discusses the rationale for attempting this alternate teaching…

A study reports on the first 3 years of a 5-year study focusing on characteristics of educational practice that accompany student achievement in English language arts in middle and high schools. The study attempts to specify features of instruction that make a difference in student learning by comparing high-achieving and under-achieving schools…

Presents two composite and contrasting cases of how elementary school children are taught history. One student receives instruction heavily slanted toward institutional political history, while the other learns these concepts incorporated throughout social history illustrated with different types of learning activities. Suggests workable…