Describes how teachers can use likeness statements (analogies, metaphors, and similes) as a means for helping students understand musical concepts during rehearsals. Explains that likeness statements encourage problem solving and address the needs of different kinds of learners. Stresses the importance of using likeness statements that are…

A study investigated the learning style preferences of 214 students (ages 10-17) with visual impairments and their sighted peers. Students with visual impairments more frequently preferred practical, thinking, or organized styles. Boys with visual impairments tended to prefer extroverted styles and girls with visual impairments tended to prefer…

Reports that anecdotal evidence and studies by individual institutions suggest that course completion and program retention rates are generally lower in distance education courses than in their face-to-face counterparts. Suggests some of the causes may be that distance students are often older, have more obligations, or that lack of face-to-face…

College agriculture students (n=90) were grouped into cooperative learning teams based on learning style: field dependent, field independent, field neutral, or mixed. Teams with heterogeneous learning styles did not perform better than homogeneous teams, nor did they have higher levels of satisfaction with team activities or higher attendance. (SK)

Comparison of 16 children (ages 9 to 12) with visual impairment to 16 sighted children found visually impaired children had a poorer understanding than did sighted children of characters in stories, as shown by fewer correct justifications based on mental states. Some subgroup patterns concerning congenital impairments and cognitive style were…

Analyzes second-language learners' processing of linguistic data within the target language, focusing on input and intake in second-language acquisition and factors and cognitive processes that affect input processing. Input factors include input simplification, input enhancement, and interactional modifications. Individual learner differences…

Describes a study performed in a microbial physiology course to increase students' self awareness of their misconceptions, promote sound research techniques, develop written and oral communication skills, stimulate metacognition, and improve team work and interpersonal relationship skills. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/YDS)

Examines metaphoric competence and its relationship to cognitive style and second language learning and teaching. Describes four measured aspects of metaphoric competence in participants' first and second language: originality of metaphor production; ability to find meaning in metaphor; speed in finding meaning in metaphor; and fluency of metaphor…

This study investigated differences and shifts in learning and motivation constructs among male and female students in a nonmajors, yearlong structured inquiry college physics course and examined how these variables were related to physics understanding and course achievement. Tests and questionnaires measured students' learning approaches,…

The primary focus of this study is to explore the variation in academic performance of European Business (EB) students, using the student learning framework. Prior research has shown that students' approaches to learning and preferences for teaching influence the quality of their learning outcomes. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for…

This article identifies the orientations to learning of a group of mature students, all practising managers, who were on part-time postgraduate management courses. The orientations to learning approach provided an effective framework for gaining insights into the complexities of learner motivations and how these influence learning behaviour. A…

Over the last three decades there has been a major shift in how practicing educators think about intelligence. One great driving force of this change can be attributed to "Frames of Mind: Theory of Multiple Intelligences," written by Howard Gardner in 1983. Gardner's book is conceived around the premise that every human being maintains seven (now…

This article presents a five-tiered taxonomy that describes the nature of participation in, and learning through, asynchronous discussion. The taxonomy is framed by a constructivist view of asynchronous discussion. The five tiers of the taxonomy include the following: (a) passive participation, (b) developmental participation, (c) generative…

Within two Flemish institutes of pre-service and inservice teacher education, the relationship between the learning styles and preferences for learning environments of pre-service teachers were examined. Results indicate that some components of pre-service teachers' learning approaches (learning conceptions, learning strategies and learning…

In the past ten years the Web has attracted many educators for purposes of teaching and learning. The main advantage of the Web lies in its non-linear interaction. That is, students can have more control over their learning paths. However, this freedom of control may cause problems for some students, such as disorientation, cognitive overload and…