Critical pedagogy, an ideology which opposes education as domination, views knowledge and learning as constructed by the student and teacher together. Its goal is personal and social emancipation and empowerment. The purposes of this paper are to (1) indicate problems in science education which can be addressed by teaching science from a critical,…

This document reports the results of a cross-cultural study on children's knowledge about the shape, gravity, movement, and location of the Earth and about the day/night cycle. The subjects of the study were elementary school students from Greece (N=90) and the United States (N=60). The results of the study showed that the children in both samples…

The questions proposed by this study were: (1) Do students in the teacher preparation program develop relativistic thinking in the present course of their teacher preparation studies? and (2) Would a written modified reflective judgment interview be feasible as a screening device to help educators assess the development of reflective judgment in…

A project at the University of Calgary attempted to find ways in which university continuing education units could intervene programmatically to enhance professionals' autonomous learning skills and attitudes. The format was a workshop-lab spread over a 5-week period, with the first session of 1.5 days followed by 3 follow-up meetings of 4 hours…

Based on suggestions of participants at the second annual Instructional Methods Forum held in June 1989, the monograph considers cognitive-based approaches to teaching mathematics to students with learning problems and the implications for the design of media and materials. It discusses characteristics of successful cognitive approaches and the…

This study examined transitional knowledge during literacy development, hypothesizing that there are times when the integration of reading and writing knowledges into literacy knowledges is problematic for children because these knowledges are out of synch with one another. Data were gathered from 46 kindergarten pupils, each of whom wrote and…

Intended as a guide for elementary school teachers who want to use the computer as a writing tool in their classrooms, this booklet offers an outline of practical information and techniques for introducing young children to computers in kindergarten through grade 6. The first chapter explains the process approach to writing and advocates computer…

Intended for teachers and parents, this book focuses on demolishing widely held myths about poor spellers and about the process of spelling. "Dear Professor Henderson" (chapter 1) is a dedication to a favorite college professor who remonstrated with the author about his "lazy" spelling. "Kneeling on Rice" (chapter 2)…

This study aimed at finding the optimal condition of written instruction and online practice for learning a new computer application. Subjects were 44 undergraduate and graduate students and university staff members. Those in the experimental group learned commands for an electronic spreadsheet by reading user-manual descriptions and working…

To determine the relationship between oral and written language conventions at the macro and micro levels, a study analyzed various elements of stories generated by children. Subjects, nine above average readers between grades 4 and 9, were asked to tell a story and then to write a story. Sources of stories, overall plot organization, and number…

A study was designed to improve fifth-graders' limited use of comprehension monitoring processes during reading through a self-instructional approach. Thirty-nine average and superior comprehenders were tested on their ability to detect inconsistencies contained in short essays prior to, immediately after, and one week after participation in one…

Noting that young children's initial writing efforts are often dismissed as insignificant scribbling, a study explored children's emerging understandings about written language as indicated by the changes in 47 preschool children's autographs. Throughout a school year children were asked to write their names and draw pictures of themselves.…

Acknowledging that reasoning ability has been identified by the College Board as one of the six basic academic competencies, this guide is intended to help secondary school language arts teachers integrate critical thinking skills into their curriculum. The guide is divided into the following sections: (1) test-taking skills (summary of college…

An instructional model to develop academic integrity (honesty) in college students is proposed. Goals are to develop: adherence to the principle of doing one's own work, an understanding for the principle and nature of coauthorship, an understanding and adherence to citation practices, and an understanding of plagiarism. Students should be…

Psychological theories have long had a pronounced effect on the diagnosis and instruction of children with learning problems. Traditional theorists emphasized the centrality of global processes assumed to be common to most if not all cognitive tasks. These processes were quite distant from those involved in traditional academic activities, making…