Discusses communicative acts involving at least two persons, whereby a relationship is established between them, based on the use of language in a given context. The purpose of this study is to clarify the notions that such a relationship is often considered to require or contain some measure of understanding between the persons engaged in it. (19…

Experiments with 251 male and 280 female college students demonstrated that subjects' representations of the water levels in a tilted container could be influenced by problem presentation. Subjects who did not appear to know that water remains horizontal were attempting to solve an object-relative, rather than environment-relative, problem. (SLD)

The Teacher Assessment Project at Stanford University focused on both simulation exercises and portfolios. Although portfolios are messy to construct, difficult to score, and vulnerable to misrepresentation, they provide a connection to the contexts and personal realities of real teaching and help document teaching and learning over time.…

Reports four experiments that examined four-year olds' ability to coordinate orthogonal spatial dimensions. Found that performance was particularly good when two imagined lines of sight were the dimensions to be coordinated. Results support the notion that young children perform better when tasks are set in a meaningful context. (MM)

Draws on evolutionary biology to provide implications for the case study method, to promote a better understanding of contingency, and to confirm the status of case study. Argues that contingency unites the details that make the case portray part of a greater category and that make it a unique instance. (DSK)

Describes experiences during the field-testing and development of the Mathematics in Context (MiC) project from the developer and classroom teacher points of view. (ASK)

For analytic purposes, contends that, in principle, culture is an unapparent and functionally unimportant element of routine everyday interactions. It is when persons, relationships, and episodes are evaluated by the participants or others in the community, and what the participants opt to say, or not say, that we come face-to-face with culture.…

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…