This paper describes an exploratory study of conceptual change in 91 students enrolled in an introductory course at Michigan State University designed to help beginning teacher education students examine critically their preconceptions. The data consist of essay responses written at the beginning and end of the term. The authors were interested in…

This paper considers ways in which the organization of text can be made explicit through verbal cuing and the ways in which this organization can be related to the cognitive processes of the reader. It is noted that the textual factors supplementary to the main content play an important part in the comprehension of text and are, thus, important…

This report describes a project which analyzed science and social studies textbooks to determine how well they accommodate the learning needs of mainstreamed hard-to-teach students. A textbook analysis tool was developed, and eight teacher-reviewers examined the instructional design of teachers' and students' editions of 12 leading elementary and…

A study examined whether good and poor readers benefit differentially from intervention in mnemonic strategy use. Subjects, 72 fourth grade males from a suburban public school in the southeast, were randomly assigned to either a training, induction or control group. Training subjects received explicit demonstration of appropriate strategies, while…

In the last fifteen years, the concept of field-based experiences has changed from a Schools, College, and Department of Education (SCDE) focus toward a consumer-oriented model. This paper briefly reviews the early goals and describes the definitions which differentiate clinical experiences from field experiences which may help clarify research…

The use of the laserdisc in the classroom is described. Major advantages of the laserdisc are durability and large information storage capacity. Connecting the laserdisc with a microcomputer allows quick access to and interaction with the information it contains. Five uses of the system are further discussed: archival, demonstration, illustration…

Research indicates that there are numerous opportunities for educators to use computer technology in ways which are developmentally appropriate and which support or enhance preschool children's natural motivation to explore and discover. Since many of the misconceptions about preoperational cognition that form the basis for serious objections to…

The theoretical foundations of thinking skills models differ. One category of thinking skills programs uses the cognitive process approach on the premise that thinking abilities depend upon certain fundamental processes. Thinking skills programs that present a strategic approach to thinking are called heuristics-oriented programs, and focus on an…

This paper examines the gap between the learning potentials that computers provide and the actual impact of computer use on learning and development. It is argued that the computer's unique potential is derived in part from four basic attributes: information, symbol systems, user activities, and relations with the user. It is hypothesized that…

The major curriculum issue in Norway focuses on the form of learning as opposed to the content of learning. At the turn of the century the school program emphasized content; teaching centered around the acquisition and storage of knowledge. During the 1920s and 1930s, however, theorists stressed the form of the educational process. The process of…

This paper explores new technologies, including computers and videodiscs, considering what they offer to education, how they can help contain educational costs, and how schools can begin to plan a smooth transition from today's primitive classroom environment to the electronically-equipped classroom of tomorrow. The introduction discusses general…

Mildly mentally retarded (N=36), moderately mentally retarded (N=39), and normal (N=37) adolescents were compared on measures of sensorimotor learning ability to determine whether retarded adolescents can learn to perform a vocationally meaningful task as efficiently as normal adolescents. Three measures of sensorimotor learning ability were…

Part of a collection of papers commissioned by Foundations, a project designed to identify career development needs of students entering the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), the paper examines implications of discovery and expository learning for hearing impaired students. Differences are considered between the discovery method,…

An experiment was conducted to determine whether tutoring is a learning activity from which the tutor, as well as the tutee, gains cognitively. Undergraduate students (N=80) participated in the study. Half of the subjects studied selected material to tutor another subject. The other half studied material to prepare for a test that they would take.…

The study examined the encoding function in student note taking in relationship to learning from a university lecture. It was expected that note taking effectiveness would be positively related to learning; and, that the notes of high and low effective note takers would differ significantly. After pretesting, a 551-word lecture on research methods…