Cognitive style is an important variable that can affect the educational process in several ways. This study, a continuation of previous research, considers two learning styles--field dependent (FD) and field independent (FI). FD learners are attuned to social interaction; they favor structure, teacher direction, and feedback; and they benefit…

The five essays in this volume address broad trends and issues in foreign language education. "Bandwagons Revisited: A Perspective on Movements in Foreign Language Education" (Frank M. Grittner) suggests that the bandwagons flourish because of lack of standardization and centralized authority in American education. Characteristics and results of…

This article attempts to bridge a perceived gap between legal education and education theory as well as the gap between academic counseling and independent learning by examining law school academic support programs. The article argues that a multidisciplinary analysis provides a helpful basis for evaluating academic support programs that address…

This report summarizes a project in which a number of new approaches were taken to improve learning in undergraduate basic music instruction for music majors. The basic viewpoint proposed was that music activities can be seen as skilled problem solving in the areas of aural analysis, visual analysis, and understanding of compositional processes.…

This handbook enables teachers to proceed from understanding to practical incorporation in the classroom of "Common Essential Learnings," an appropriate and sound pedagogy, based on techniques of questioning, reflection, and dialogue. The "Common Essential Learnings" comprise six categories: (1) communication, which focuses on…

This study of college-bound 11th graders assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of instruction that used a structured cooperative learning technique. The students worked in dyads with scripts that contained two learning situations with two roles: (1) explainer and checker; and (2) solver and checker. Both students then worked on summary…

The World Wide Web has allowed the delineation of distance versus place-based education to become a spectrum rather than a binary choice. This paper discusses a novel format of distance education, called "Virtual Seminars," and its relation to issues within cognitive flexibility theory. Virtual seminars are interactive courses offered…

The Superhighways Teams Across Rural Schools (STARS) program sought to demonstrate how pupil learning and teacher professional development might be enhanced by the use of multimedia resources made available over communications networks. Subsidiary goals included developing strategies to support isolated gifted students through collaborative work,…

Career and Technology Studies (CTS) is an optional program designed for Alberta's secondary school students. The program is designed to help junior and senior high school students do the following: develop skills they can apply in daily living now and in the future; investigate career options and make effective career choices; use technology…

This report describes a program for improving listening skills, lack of which interferes with second language acquisition. The targeted population was first- and second-year Spanish students in one middle school and one high school. Intervention over 15 weeks included changes in the classroom environment (desk arrangement, improved lighting,…

A study investigated how Chinese characters (hanzi) were taught and learned in a first-year Chinese language class in an American university. Traditionally the teaching of hanzi in higher education has taken one of four approaches: radical; high-frequency-hanzi; phonetic; and non-teaching. The four approaches are analyzed from the second language…

The aim of the TEEODE project was to develop a representative survey of the models of assessment and evaluation used by institutions supporting distance learning in the 15 member states of the European Union. This paper focuses on issues of course development and assessment, and, in particular, on how effective learning outcomes are achieved and…

This book is a collection of essays forming a mosaic of theory, research, and practice directed at the task of spreading mathematical knowledge based on the learning theory of constructivism. The authors collectively address questions raised by the observation that current practice frequently generate in the student an aversion to mathematics.…

This book describes issues, trends, and practical teaching concerns that surround cooperative learning. It puts forward specific organizational plans and content area lessons for teachers who would like to become more familiar with active team learning in the classroom. Major themes include collaborative approaches to multicultural education,…

A project was undertaken to test feminist teaching strategies designed to improve women students' confidence and engagement in the physical sciences classroom. The strategies under study included peer-support partnerships, writing in the learning process, and systematic self-disclosure by the teacher. In each of four semesters from 1991 to 1992,…