Responds to attacks from a number of educationists who claim that the concept of cultural transmission is unable to cover adequately the complex process of interaction that takes place in education. Attempts to defend cultural transmission against the three main criticisms that have been leveled against it, and concludes that it remains a valuable…

Derives a time-denominated learning cost curve from an economic model of programmed instruction and uses experimental data to identify it for each learner. This portrayal suggests that equalizing the time allowed to learn, as in conventional group instruction, distributes learning outcomes and human capital unevenly. The distribution of education…

Children's natural propensity for wonder is important to learning. Educators play a vital role in keeping that sense of wonder alive; educators must not merely supply explanations, but must move young children toward solving their own problems through active exploration, discovery, and reflection--processes that are pertinent to our responses in…

A research project using an instrument designed to allow teachers to investigate their students' ideas about learning found that the ideas of 193 English and Finnish adolescents about learning were varied, without clear understanding of how they learned. Finnish students seemed to depend more on their teachers than did English students. (SLD)

A theory of how people detect and correct their own performance errors during skill practice is proposed. Blame assignment, error attribution, and knowledge revision are identified as three cognitive functions in explaining error correction. The theory is embodied in a computer model that learns cognitive skills in ecologically valid domains. (SLD)

Conventional science instruction often fails to address or change students' misconceptions about physical phenomena. Students stubbornly cling to anthropocentric, causal, and product conceptions about energy. This article explores scientific and pedagogical arguments favoring development of a spiral curriculum for teaching energy in (Israeli)…

Describes a study that was conducted to characterize the approaches to teaching of university lecturers and to examine the relationship between lecturers' approaches to teaching and their conceptions of good teaching. Highlights include a model relating beliefs, teaching and learning; motivational distinctions; accommodation for student…

Uses a collaborative ethnography to explore how novice music teachers learn to teach elementary general music. Discusses the interaction of theory and practice. Presents an emergent set of assertions illustrating students' initial images and beliefs of teaching and a student profile illustrating the process of learning to teach music. (CMK)

Argues that conceptual change is best understood when multiple perspectives are used to interpret chemistry learning. Case studies of two secondary school students show that personal factors and differing interests and purposes for studying science can influence learning outcomes, and that high scores on achievement tests are unreliable indicators…

Focuses on the question "What kind of learning processes are intended in the subjects 'Care' and 'Technology' in the Dutch common curriculum?" Demonstrates that Care and Technology are not 'practical' subjects in either the learning-domain dimension or in the learning-outcome dimension. Includes references. (CMK)

Focuses on defining constructivism, which includes learning as an active process of knowledge construction and instruction as a process of supporting that construction. Discusses 10 constructivist assumptions about learning. Describes 11 actions that define the constructivist teacher. (AEF)

Models of self-regulated learning hypothesize that learners selectively match study tactics to varying tasks and diverse goals. In this study, students rated the frequency with which they applied 26 study tactics, used 20 textbook features and other resources, and adopted 30 goals for studying. Findings indicate students' reports of…

Stresses that mechanisms underlying quality in research have parallels that show how to improve the quality of teaching, learning, and assessment in geography higher education, such as the publication of work outcomes and peer reviews for future funding. Focuses on what needs to change in order to improve the assessment of teaching. (CMK)

Studies by Tufts University's Center on Hunger and Poverty show conclusive links between nutrition and children's cognitive development. Cognitive defects can result from complex interactions between malnutrition and "environmental insults" that come from living in poverty. Poor nutrition has longterm consequences. Print and web…

Describes a project undertaken to create survey items that will identify the dominant learning stages of community college students. Utilizes the first three stages of Baxter-Magolda's (1992) four-stage model, focusing on ways of knowing likely to be found among students in the first half of undergraduate bachelor's degree programs. (VWC)