Marshall McLuhan's belief that our electric age is moving away from literacy entails unconvincing theories about the relationship of man to communications media. One such doctrine is that society has always been influenced more by the nature of the media than by the content of the message communicated. McLuhan divides media into two types: hot…

This book brings together the latest thinking of some of the scholars who are at work reconceptualizing the meaning of the field of curriculum. William Pinar explores a phenomenological approach to the main theme of the book, drawing heavily on psychoanalytic theory. Robert Starratt discusses futurological work in the context of curriculum theory…

Traditional theories of learning and the teaching practices resulting from them are reviewed. Most theories of adult learning are based on research into the learning of children, which in turn is founded upon theories of animal learning. These theories, formulated under laboratory conditions, are artificial at best--and not complex enough to apply…

This conference paper highlights one infant education project as a successful example of a general, pervasive approach to stimulation in a group setting. The Ontario Institute and the Canadian Mothercraft Society have completed the first year of their 3-year day care demonstration project for advantaged and disadvantaged infants from 3 to 30…

Piaget's notions about schema retention were examined using a sample of 384 disadvantaged four, five, and six year old children from a wide geographical area. The purpose was to examine the idea that schemas may be destroyed or modified by specific methods of interference using a retroactive inhibition model. Pictorial scenes were generated and…

This study was designed to measure adult performance as related to age. Using methodology derived from information theory, information processing ability was measured with the individuals performing as a communication system. Fifty-five school teachers, ranging in age from 20 to 66, served as subjects. In four groups, the subjects judged the sizes…

Aspects of language instruction which "derive from the nature of language itself" are discussed in this study. The notion that language teachers should teach grammar exclusively is disputed. This position is based on the following generalizations presented in an analysis of the nature of grammar and language: (1) language comprises more than what…

The activities of the Nucleus Testing Committee of the Madison County (Wisconsin) Schools in developing a new student testing program are discussed, and suggestions for the development of appropriate testing procedures are given. An individualized learning packet, developed by the author, using the psychological and educational modalities of…

Conflicting evidence as to the presence or absence of generalization in classroom behavior modification programs prompted this study of the conditions of generalization. During the experiment, behaviors operationally defined as competitive or cooperative were reinforced in certain game situations. Then the generalization of this training over…

To test whether training in logical multiplication would improve the reading skills of "retarded readers" (children with specific language disability, minimal brain damage, dyslexia, psycho-neurological learning disability, or perceptual handicaps), this study (1) elaborated a theoretical approach to reading based on Piaget's theory of cognitive…

The following skills are required for librarians to serve effectively as learning consultants: (1) analyze social and educational trends and discern learning needs; (2) analyze the competencies needed by librarians; (3) identify methods appropriate to achieve self-learning goals; (4) design learning sequences; (5) given client characteristics,…

This research paper proposes several mathematical models which help clarify Piaget's theory of cognition on the concrete and formal operational stages. Some modified lattice models were used for the concrete stage and a combined Boolean Algebra and group theory model was used for the formal stage. The researcher used experiments cited in the…

The aim of this paper is to outline one approach to the study of language teaching by proposing a theory of its minimum elements. This model takes as its focus all of the circumstances in which a learner learns and a professional teacher teaches. The language teaching profession deals with many types of learners, teaching/learning conditions,…

Research literature on childrens' causal understanding in oral and written settings is reviewed. Results show that maturation and task complexity both influence childrens' causal understanding. However, the findings are contradictory, and no generalizations could be made about which factors influence causal understanding and at which ages they are…

Describes research findings concerning children's difficulties with the concepts of circuit, current, and electrical energy. Discusses some possible approaches to instruction. (CW)