This chapter of "The Best of the Best of ERIC," Volume 2, contains 17 summaries of documents and journal articles on alternative schools, all of which are indexed in either "Resources in Education" or "Current Index to Journals in Education." The materials included deal with various aspects of this topic, such as reasons for success or failure of…

This collection provides a number of perspectives on the central role that language plays in reading comprehension. Following an introduction by the editor, entitled "Attention and Individual Differences in Comprehension," the following papers are presented: (1) "The Line of Sight Approach," by Norman H. Mackworth; (2)…

This study investigates the preference and ability components of cognitive style as measured by a verbal test for fifth-grade children. Performances from an intellectual ability test, a pictorial cognitive style test, and school achievement tests were included as construct validity variables. The results supported conclusions drawn by Robinson and…

An investigation of learning styles was jointly conducted by the Fox Valley Technical Institute and the Center for Vocational Technical and Adult Education at the University of Wisconsin at Stout. After a study of learning styles, a computerized model to manage an instructional system was developed. Analysis of information necessary to manage a…

A three-year longitudinal study was conducted with 895 Head Start children to examine the development of self-regulatory abilities during the preschool years. The purpose was to discover, given the behaviors measured, whether there is convergent and discriminant validity for the existence of one or more dimensions of self requlatory behaviors…

Videotaped classroom discussions of first-year home economics teachers and senior high school students were analyzed according to levels of cognitive behaviors exhibited. Various measures of cognitive interaction were used. There appeared to be some relationship between student learning and teacher behaviors over a period of time. (MF)

Since it is assumed that students' classroom behaviors reflect learning modalities and attitudes, this investigation was undertaken to assist teachers in identifying their students' individual differences. (Author/NCR)

A small ethnographic study determining the writing strategy preferences of advanced English as a second language students (N=48) found that students' most common preferences were hierarchical treeing or planning. Open-ended exploratory techniques were also popular. The least common preference was for systematic heuristics. (Author/CB)

Critiques five arguments cited in support of process science. Considers the problematic nature of the processes and consequent difficulties encountered in mirroring these processes. Suggests an alternative way of viewing physics education through a trio of types of knowledge which can be used as governing principles in shaping education. (RT)

This paper reviews learning characteristics and best intervention practices for the mentally retarded; research on the use of computer-assisted instruction to teach language skills; alternative models for computer use, such as expert systems and learner-based software; characteristics of computer-based language activities that complement learning…

Considers current research on reading in a second language from five points of view: (1) the reader's role in light of new models of language and textual meaning; (2) revised definitions of textual meaning and reader processing; (3) reader processing of schemata; (4) relationship between second-language competency and reader strategies; and (5)…

Three articles describe a series of observations and experiments that examined the user context of questions in information retrieval, the structure and classification of questions, cognitive traits and decision-making searchers, and different searches of the same question. (71 references) (Author/CLB)

Reports on a five-year study of more than 19,000 adult students or potential students from 35 states conducted to determine the respondents' demographic characteristics, educational plans and preferences, and learning and developmental needs. (DMM)

The article describes the triarchic theory of human intelligence, which is composed of three subtheories: componential, experiential, and contextual. Deficient cognitive strategies and inadequate knowledge in certain domains may result from the inability of the learning disabled to selectively encode, compare, and combine information, or from an…

Describes a study in Nigeria comparing achievement in biology with a student's preference for cooperative or competitive learning situations. Proposes that rural children prefer cooperative learning strategies while urban children prefer competitive ones. Presents data proposing that learning preference (cooperative vs competitive) directly…