Eight behavior disordered students (ages 7-11) in a self-contained class were given two units of instruction in science concepts in a crossover design, with each student receiving both mnemonic and traditional instruction. Student learning was significantly improved under mnemonic instruction, and high levels of concept retention were…

This article presents learning strategies to help high school students with learning disabilities succeed in technical classes. Strategies address time management, memorization, and learning to use charts and graphs. Figures offer an example of breaking a project into subtasks, a self-questioning strategy, the CAN DO learning strategy, and a…

An associative model of serial learning is described based on the assumption that the effective stimulus for a serial-list item is generated by adaptation-level coding of the item's ordinal position. How the model can generate predictions of aspects of serial-learning data is illustrated. (SLD)

Although neuroscience has much to offer teaching and learning conceptualizations, educators must be cautious about applying lab research to classrooms. Brain research seems hazy, confusing, and contradictory because it is new. Myths about synapses, low-stress learning, memorization, enrichment, and learning styles are debunked. (MLH)

Constructivist teachers are guided by three basic principles when teaching math to young children. They encourage students to think about their answers, conceptualize how they resolved the problem, and represent their thinking with words, pictures, or symbols. Demonstrating mathematical logic is more important than memorizing rules. (MLH)

Provides the song "Can't Get in Tune Blues" to help orchestra string students determine whether their instruments are in tune. Explains that the song teaches students the pitch relationships among strings and gives them valuable open-string bowing practice. Includes the music and one variation. (CMK)

A method designed to facilitate prediction of mechanism and products by developing critical thinking skills and reducing memorization is presented. The mechanistic disc method requiring students to utilize their understanding of charge stabilization, structural organic chemistry, and the fundamental mechanisms of aliphatic substitution and…

Memoria, one of the original five canons of rhetoric, has been described as a lost art. While "word-for-word" memorization and presentation of classic speeches was an important component of rhetorical training that "persisted through the middle ages," it receives no more than a brief mention (usually in the sections outlining different types of…

The Keyword Method (KWM) of vocabulary learning is a mnemonic method designed to help students learn foreign vocabulary. It has been shown to be effective over several other memorization strategies. The present experiment was designed to explore the cognition underlying the effectiveness of the KWM. Specifically, both the degree of cognitive…

Circumscribed interests are a fascinating and an understudied phenomenon in some individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research in this area is likely to contribute to our understanding of ASDs and to advancing developmental knowledge on learning processes used to adapt to the demands of everyday social life. This study reports on a…

Although music was established as a compulsory subject in Spain by the 1990 constructivist reform, the 2002 counter-reform restricted it to lists of concepts, in a renewed encyclopaedist model for secondary schools that ignored authentic musical procedures, such as performing or composing. Contemporary adolescents, accustomed to the transmission…

This study investigates the effectiveness of three methods of learning vocabulary among 778 beginning second language (L2) learners. Rote memorization consists of memorizing the first language (L1) translation of a new L2 word by rehearsal. Semantic mapping displays L1 words conceptually related to the L2 word in a diagram. The keyword method…

This paper describes the mental model children have of their own learning, derived from their behaviors when learning a song. The basic assumption of the study is that behavior is an outward expression of a psychological entity. The song chosen for the study was a complex, unfamiliar Zulu song. Thirty-six children in three age groups participated…

This paper outlines several "tricks" that aid students in improving their memories. The distinctions between operational and figural thought processes are noted. Operational memory is described as something that allows adults to make generalizations about numbers and the rules by which they may be combined, thus leading to easier memorization.…

The materials in this guide focus on a variety of approaches to acquiring learning skills and applying them to eight content areas. The guide begins with a definition, an overview of learning skills, and historical background on the process of acquiring and applying learning skills. Ten learning skill competencies are defined: (1) self-evaluation,…