The National Science Education Standards (NSES) emphasize the use of models in science instruction by making it one of the five unifying concepts of science, applicable to all grade levels. The NSES recommend that models be a focus of instruction--helping students understand the use of evidence in science, make and test predictions, use logic, and…

This paper discusses toilet training children with autism using techniques recommended by TEACCH consultants. It recommends looking at the problem from the perspective of the student with autism in order to build in many elements of visual structure that will help the child understand exactly what is expected. Teachers are urged to look at each…

This paper defines ethnomathematics and reviews the methods used to incorporate this philosophy into the current teaching of mathematics. Ethnomathematics rejects inequity, arrogance, and bigotry while challenging the Eurocentric bias that denies the mathematical contributions and rigor of other cultures. A review of the literature shows that the…

This position statement begins with an outline of the meanings for terms that are central to the session topic at which this paper was presented: inquiry, inquiry learning, scientific inquiry, and scientific method. The central issues of inquiry's place in science education and as a more general educational approach are then discussed. Finally,…

This study used a computerized simulation and problem-solving tool along with artificial neural networks (ANN) as pattern recognizers to identify the common types of strategies high school and college undergraduate chemistry students would use to solve qualitative chemistry problems. Participants were 134 high school chemistry students who used…

This guide describes ways that parents can help improve student achievement and school quality. It answers such questions as how to choose the right early-education opportunity for a preschooler, how to make sure a 5-year-old is ready for school, how to help a daughter do well in school, how to work with a daughter's or son's teachers, how to help…

Parents often become involved in their children's education through homework. Whether children do homework at home, complete it in after school programs or work on it during the school day, homework can be a powerful tool for (a) letting parents and other adults know what the child is learning, (b) giving children and parents a reason to talk…

This research intends to explore students' aspect and impact on forming virtual learning communities within online courses. A formal online course that is on the process of building virtual community is closely examined to discover students' perceptions of learning community approach, their online performances, and how these perceptions and…

The effect of cognitive style on the performance of four groups of college students (n=326) who used different strategies of study to comprehend prose was investigated. The cognitive styles of the subjects (field dependence/independence) interacted with the strategies of study and seem to affect performance on comprehension of prose at posttest.…

Examined whether determining a delinquent's preferred cognitive mode and instructing to it would facilitate academic achievement, in a study of 36 incarcerated adolescents. Results showed delinquents with relative strength in visual/spatial learning, which included the vast majority of delinquents, scored significantly higher under…

Reports the results of a study that examined the relationships among basic skills, choice of assessment mode, and student performance in the general context of student learning strategies. The subjects were first year economics students at a college in Sydney, Australia. (AM)

Diekhoff argues that you must teach trainees how to learn. He recommends pretraining in learning strategies, including self-pacing, concentration, and reading comprehension. (CT)

Imagery and sentence versions of the key word method of vocabulary learning were contrasted with three nonkey word verbal-contextual alternatives using strict, intermediate, and lenient scoring criteria. Definition learning in the key word conditions, imagery more so than verbal, was superior to learning in all nonkey word conditions, especially…

In five experiments, novices read a computer programing text and engaged in one of these learning strategies: advance organizer, model elaboration, comparative elaboration, normal reading. Results of transfer and recall tests suggested that elaboration techniques can be applied to "real-world" materials, resulting in more integrated…

Reviews studies that investigated the effects of emphatic stress on novel word learning by children with normal language and those with specific language impairments. The results indicate that use of emphatic stress on modeled target forms improved the children's lexical learning. Implications for language intervention are discussed. (Author/CR)