The role of context in learning has taken on a new significance in recent research in that it might account for the "lost learning" that should result from the school experience, but which does not appear on normative assessments intended to measure learning in areas explicitly valued by society. A naturally occurring microworld, or…

Constructivists view thinking and learning differently from other learning theorists: they believe that learners do not acquire knowledge that is transmitted to them; rather, learners construct knowledge through intellectual activity. Sharp contrasts exist between a "transmission" model of instruction and the constructivist perspective.…

The essays in this book form a dialogue between instructional developers and learning theorists about the implications of constructivism for instructional design practice. Following an introduction entitled "Constructivism: New Implications for Instructional Technology" (Thomas M. Duffy and David H. Jonassen), the papers are divided into…

This 6-year study examined how metacognitive strategies could enhance learning achievement and whether the use of individual learning contracts could enhance an individual's ability to become a conscientious learner. The criteria included whether students would learn by planning, controlling, monitoring learning processes, and using study skills.…

This report discusses how three major strains of educational research are converging on a compelling new concept: critical thinking is not a set of skills to be taught, but a natural capacity, involving creating and revising patterns of information to be exercised and strengthened. Thus, according to the report, the appropriate classroom practice…

This guide is designed to offer teachers and school administrators a rationale for the Project Approach, a description of the practical implications of its implementation, and ways of integrating parts of the approach with other ways of teaching. The guide is divided into two sections. Section 1, "Reviewing Today's Classroom Practices,"…

The role of block building in children's learning was studied by a student teacher who observed a teacher's block building curriculum in a combined first and second grade class. The purpose was to clarify the linkage between thinking and doing, spoken intention and actual consequences, and planning and spontaneity in the curriculum. The cycle of…

The manual is intended to provide employment supervisors with skills to enable them to motivate and provide any needed support to workers with disabilities. The material is organized into seven short sessions with most of the material consisting of basic principles for communicating and instructing persons with disabilities and case study problems…

This volume attempts to bring together a collection of reports on the Geometric Supposer, a series of computer software environments which can be a tool for exploring particulars and generalizations in geometry. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "A Personal View of the Supposer: Reflections on Particularities and Generalities in…

This commentary contends that Henry J. Perkinson's arguments in "Teachers without Goals, Students without Purposes" (1993) are, on the whole, a failure. This criticism is based on the following points: (1) terms such as "modernism" and "postmodernism" are used without adequate definitions; (2) the book inadequately…

A study used causal modeling to examine how second-grade students' language ability interacted with two characteristics of a teacher's language during naturalistic expository instruction to explain students' attention to and learning from a science lesson. Subjects, 120 students from 13 suburban classrooms, working with an instructor in groups of…

In a discussion of the role of language in education, education is viewed as a semiotic apprenticeship, or opportunity to gain the cultural tools and practices for meaning-making in construction of knowledge. This process occurs through guided participation in discipline-based forms of inquiry. In this enterprise, language is seen as having a…

The 15 chapters in this book include commentaries on 12 seminal works on self-directed learning (SDL) by Houle, Knowles, Tough, Spear and Mocker, Brookfield, Caffarella and O'Donnell, and Long et al. These works were identified by a Delphi panel of 49 experts. Chapter titles and authors are as follows: "An Introduction to the Study of…

Presenting diagnostic teaching units for grade 7 science and Science 14, this handbook is intended to be used along with the companion handbook 1, "Evaluating Students' Learning and Communication Processes: Integrating Diagnostic Evaluation and Instruction." The student activities of the diagnostic teaching units in the handbook have…

It appears that the value of providing students with strategies to activate their prior knowledge base or to build a base if one does not exist is supported by current research. Creating an opportunity to challenge students to call on their collective experiences (prior knowledge) is essential. Through this process, teachers move students from…