Explores the influence of reading comprehension on the acquisition of word meanings from context and compares it to the effects of local context characteristics, such as proximity and directness of context clues. Indicates that reading-comprehension level and prior main-concept knowledge facilitate vocabulary learning from context. (DSK)

Presents a study in which 78 students reported on their awareness of gender and race. Indicates an increased awareness in public settings and with athletic involvement. Reveals racial awareness increased for white and non-white participants when in the racial minority and majority, respectively; while in gender minority, awareness rose for all…

Discusses preliminary observations on the notion of "tension" as an inevitable agent of developmental change and to show that at the source of tension are constraints of epistemological, semiotic, learning, and environmental nature. Focuses on four constraints that exert inevitable and pedagogically fruitful tension on classroom teaching.…

Presents a conceptualization of social skills with an emphasis on natural contexts within which children are expected to function. Offers a definition of social skills whereby important considerations of social contexts are emphasized. Emphasizes assessment procedures that address both environmentally relevant and child-specific behaviors, and…

Six experiments involving a total of 112 college students demonstrate that a robust memory for visual context exists to guide spatial attention. Results show how implicit learning and memory of visual context can guide spatial attention toward task-relevant aspects of a scene. (SLD)

This study investigated the effects of contextualization on fluency in 35 school-age children with either stuttering, language impairment, or normal fluency. Analysis of the children's discourse samples, half of which were produced with contextual cues, found stutterers demonstrated a significant reduction in frequency of stuttering in the…

Interviewed 10 (British) secondary headteachers to examine headship approaches among those appointed during the past 3 years. Numerous contextual factors impinge on new principals: current events, devolved management, catchmment area, management courses, staff affect and attitudes, and planned rate and style of managed change. (Contains 25…

Discusses the integration of knowledge management into business applications. Topics include the difference between knowledge and information; performance-centered design (PCD); applying knowledge to support business outcomes, including context, experience, and information quality; techniques for merging PCD and knowledge management, including…

Investigated hypothesis that individuals evaluate self-worth differently across relational contexts while holding perceptions of global self-worth. Found that adolescents' self-worth perceptions varied across contexts. Support in a given context was more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in other…

Presents two case studies of higher education institutions undergoing change to illustrate how institutional culture affects the change process. Introduces the mobile model of change that guides transformation efforts in urban institutions while remaining sensitive to their institutional context and culture. The framework is based on a five-year…

During the 1980s, homeless people formed social movement organizations and mobilized collective action events in cities across the US. From the vantage point of social movement theories and scholarship on homelessness, it is surprising that homeless protest was so prevalent in the 1980s. Yet we find evidence of homeless protest events across no…

This paper investigates teachers use of prior knowledge in whole class teaching contexts and draws on data from an ESRC-funded study. The paper explores how teachers conceptualise prior knowledge, principally as that which has been taught in school. It demonstrates strong teacher awareness of how the teaching under consideration fits with learning…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the peer conflict strategies of preschool children are situated and therefore vary across different conflict situations. Hypothetical conflict interviews were administered through a series of puppet shows. Participants were 178 preschool children. Results indicate that preschool children's conflict…

In this essay, the author discusses an analytical model for describing interactions and analyzing connections in history. The first objective of this model is a procedure to "describe interactions" in the past. This first step is entirely descriptive and focuses on identifying complexity. The second objective in this study is a procedure to…

We investigated newborns' sensitivity to the direction of gaze of another's face by using a preferential looking technique. This study extends earlier work on a preference for faces with direct gaze in newborns. In Experiment 1, we replicate the basic finding of Farroni and colleagues that newborns prefer to look at faces with direct gaze. In…