Describes an investigation into the accuracy of high school science students' confidence in their answers on classroom tests, how that accuracy varied between different types of questions, and whether having to judge their confidence in test items resulted in an improvement in accuracy over the school year. Contains 33 references. (Author/WRM)

Investigates factors influencing language-switching behavior in the thinking processes of a bilingual person engaged in second-language writing, based on review of literature and a case study in which an individual performs three tasks using think-aloud protocols: text composition in English (second language); written translation from Chinese…

Considers cultural diversity in Web design and traces the design processes involved in the development of an online learning environment for indigenous Australian learners entering university. Highlights include culture, constructivist learning and situated cognition; cultural pluralism in instructional design; and ten design principles for…

Explores some of the theory and practice in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) reading and identifies two academic fields of inquiry with much to offer ESL students, that is, cognitive instructional theory and cognitive science. The article poses questions asked by teachers who have ESL students in their classrooms and provides answers by ESL…

Discusses the preparation of students of Indonesian origin for the type of thinking and writing they will have to do in graduate programs in Canada. The article argues that foreign students bound for Western English-medium universities must learn not only to produce a new language but also to display a different form of logic in the classroom.…

Evaluating children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to facilitate their transition to school is reviewed. A process-oriented approach to assessing TBI children during rehabilitation is suggested. The major areas of functioning important to school reentry are discussed. The need for families and professionals to communicate about the…

Describes a Northern Virginia Community College online course that was designed to assist students in learning about the structure of knowledge and the steps in the learning process. Asserts that the ability to understand, control, and direct one's own learning is essential to becoming an effective lifelong learner. Contains 16 references. (NB)

Several cross-sectional studies and one longitudinal study were conducted on the language abilities of various cohorts of persons with Down syndrome (ages 14-50). A gradual decrease in global cerebral metabolic rate (CMR) for both hemispheres and for each participant was documented, however, no language deterioration could be associated with CMR…

Describes the central concept of Mayan culture, the possession of the soul, or ch'ulel, in the process of forming a knowledgeable person. Soul acquisition is important to becoming the ideal person, and to the educational formation of future generations. Looks at the role language plays in culture as memory, thought formation, and learning process.…

The present study investigated the relation between executive functioning and symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children aged 4-6. A population-based sample (n = 201) was used and laboratory measures of inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency and teacher ratings of…

Middle school classrooms are a natural laboratory where the relationships between science, reading, and writing can be developed and strengthened to provide a foundation for students' learning and future career success. Teachers do not need to know "everything" about science and reading to raise student achievement. Rather, they need to know a few…

Recent discoveries about brain function explain how best practices in adult learning may lead to adult learners' developmental growth.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether music instruction was related to significant gains in the development of young children's phonemic awareness, particularly in their phoneme-segmentation fluency. Beginning in January 2004 and continuing through the end of April 2004, each of four intact classrooms of kindergarten children (n =…

A motor task that requires fine control of upper limb movements and a cognitive task that requires executive processing--first performing them separately and then concurrently--was performed by 18 young and 18 older adults. The motor task required participants to tap alternatively on two targets, the sizes of which varied systematically. The…

This study describes high school students' conceptual development of the basic astronomical phenomena during real-time interactions with a Virtual Solar System (VSS). The VSS is a non-immersive virtual environment which has a dynamic frame of reference that can be altered by the user. Ten 10th grade students were given tasks containing a set of…