Factors in the classroom that complement a well-designed optometry curriculum are discussed, including elements of the student-teacher relationship and the classroom environment, and guidelines are provided for evaluating the outcomes of instruction. (MSE)

Five papers discuss Australian education research. Issues explored include: (1) public versus private education; (2) access to and participation in higher education; (3) teacher self-evaluation; (4) test equating methods; and (5) a procedure for analyzing classroom dialogue. The validity of end-of-school assessments and the nature of teaching are…

Reviews an ethnographic study of female students in full-time secretarial courses in a college of non-advanced further education (NAFE) in England. The study explores the role of schooling in the transmission and maintenance of social inequalities and finds that classroom life encourages student conformity. (AF)

Presents a cooperative-learning lesson in which high school students visit stations equipped with different tools to establish the midpoint of a Pixy Stix, a brand of candy-filled straw. Provides solutions for two potential stations, suggestions to extend the activity, and two activity worksheets. (MDH)

Investigates teacher reformulation of student talk in order to determine the manner in which teachers affect student meaning and expression. Findings indicate that reformulation is a device used by teachers to control classroom dialog and that teachers disproportionately perform the language functions most commonly associated with higher-order…

Classroom discourse is evaluated for the contribution it can make to students' learning in groups. Data recorded from primary age children working at computers are categorized as exploratory, cumulative, and disputational talk. The teacher's role in making explicit strategies that optimize exploratory talk is discussed. (Contains 31 references.)…

Draws a distinction between language in the classroom and language of the classroom to illustrate the ways in which situated definitions of language, text, and academic practices were established by a seventh-grade English teacher and her students through their oral and written discourse practices. (MDM)

Analysis of the talk of four native Spanish-speaking third graders revealed the many reading and conversational strategies used as they cooperatively composed an answer to a reading comprehension question in Spanish. Demonstrates how students took a position on story interpretation, used evidence to support their positions, and came to the…

Presents a dialogue between two experienced teacher educators as they consider ways to encourage teachers to examine their talk with children and with fellow teachers. Proposed ideas include: repeat words back, build on the other's interests and ideas, give specific praise when appropriate, state rules and expectations clearly, and encourage…

Reports on a study of 138 college sociology professors on their attitudes about and techniques for learning students' names. Finds that the number of tactics used for learning names declines as class size increases. Includes 18 techniques for name-learning. (CFR)

Presents a study of results of training a nursery teacher and nurse in "Incidental Teaching" (IT) procedures designed to encourage child-initiated language interactions in the classroom. Reports increased use of IT by the subjects and in initiation by second-language learning children. Concludes that the number of words used increased…

This literature review focuses on methodologies, instruments, and findings from research on the instructional contexts of elementary and secondary students with learning disabilities. The review covers the time that students were engaged in different activities in different settings, interactions between teachers and students, and students'…

This study examined teacher-student interactions in 18 middle school social studies and science classes (which included mainstreamed students with disabilities) whose teachers received a 6-session inservice emphasizing teacher effectiveness variables. Differential effects were found for teacher and student type. (Author/DB)

Classroom communication in the second-language class is examined from an ethnographic perspective, highlighting the role of students in helping each other learn. Turn-taking, patterns of addressing teacher and peers, and different kinds of interaction that promote learning: cooperative; didactic; competitive; theatrical; personalized. (MSE)

Four ideas for French language instruction are presented, including an exploration of cultural and linguistic meaning in advertising; use of the Minitel database and computer capabilities; interpersonal communication games; and a vocabulary development and comprehension activity using text from a French weekly publication. (MSE)