Using academic conflicts for instructional purposes is one of the most dynamic, involving, and least used teaching strategies. Teachers fear divisiveness and also lack fitting instructional models for structuring controversial discussions. This article discusses the controversy process and how teachers can organize and use it to enhance cognitive…

States that programs which link the teaching of thinking with content have the greatest instructional value. Presents a concept formation lesson, based on the works of Taba (1967) and Ehrenberg (1978), which requires students to learn a concept by studying several examples and noting their similarities and differences. Includes a sample…

Discusses new theories of feedback which suggest that all students may not benefit from immediate, positive feedback, depending on their level of ability and the difficulty of the task. Cognitive interpretations of feedback research are reviewed, including motivation to learn, and applications to instructional design are presented. (LRW)

This study was designed to determine the reliability and construct validity of an alternate form of the Learning Style Inventory using a semantic differential format. Results of the study suggested that the alternate form was reliable and construct valid. (Author/LMO)

Illustrating major points with specific examples (including a "Doonesbury cartoon), the main article faults schools' organizational efficiency and educators' ignorance of child development for forcing young children to work beyond their developmental readiness. An inset article presents the 19th century kindergarten as a haven for children to grow…

Tests infants' dual-process performance (a process mediating response decrements called habituation and a state-dependent process mediating response increments called sensitization) on visual habituation-dishabituation tasks. (HOD)

Considers nature of learning; significance of promoting learning rather than teaching; active nature of learning from experience; role of simulations and games in promoting learning; process of debriefing and its relationship to reflection; and teacher role. The Learning System, which relates general systems theory to process of learning, is…

Reviews the history of research designed to determine the effects of media upon the learning process and the ways that learners utilize media to perceive and process information. Research methodologies are discussed, theories developed over the past decade are presented, and directions for further research are suggested. (LRW)

Explores parallels between new paradigms in the sciences, particularly quantum physics, chemistry, and biology, and new paradigms in reading and literary theory, particularly a socio-psycholinguistic, semiotic, transactional view of reading, and a transactional view of the literary experience. (HOD)

This posthumous paper attempts to clarify curriculum fundamentals such as boundaries, conceptual units, relationships, principles, and ethical dimensions. Presents an ontological approach viewing curriculum as a highly complex and dynamic interaction of events and acts and stressing the importance of the learning environment. (MLH)

Outlines two hypotheses about the reasons for obscurity in expository writing and notes that neither accounts for the general results of an exploratory study of the writing of postgraduates nor for the individual cases presented. Argues that a crucial factor is a person's implicit model of expository writing. (FL)

Provides evidence for the development of grammatical sensitivity across grades one, two, and three. Shows that grammatical sensitivity is significantly related to reading skill level. (FL)

Explains the merits of "brain-compatible" learning, especially Proster Theory. Describes a pilot program at a New Jersey elementary school that transformed conventional, graded classrooms into "multi-teacher interactive learning units" that promote thinking in terms of programs and patterns. Summarizes pedagogical changes and…

Offers an analytical model to assist teachers and students in decoding social and cultural meaning embedded in the visual track of any given television program. To illustrate the model, the Public Broadcasting System's production of "The Scarlet Letter" is analyzed. (MBR)

Discusses the difficulties teachers have in allowing natural literacy learning to take place in their classrooms and makes suggestions for dealing with the problems. Elaborates on two sets of conflicting ideologies: a fragmented view of literacy versus the holistic view and a natural approach to learning versus contrived/engineered learning. (EL)