The impact of individual differences on the performance of roles of learner and learning facilitator was studied during dyadic cooperative learning with 80 college students in same-sex groups of 4. The learner role accounted for more than 70% of the variance in total recall. The influence of cognitive and rapport factors is discussed. (SLD)

When spatial ability was regressed on a measure of general intelligence in a large national sample of 12th graders, a bimodal distribution of spatial ability was found among low scoring students, suggesting two qualitatively different types of individuals. Characteristics of these students are discussed, and an organic impairment is suggested as…

Describes the Constructive Discipline model as a preventive positive approach for managing behavior problems in school settings. Compares Constructive Discipline with traditional discipline approaches and stresses the need to clarify discipline policy, provide considerable staff support, and make allowances for individual student differences in…

Commentary discusses two components of "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life." First, evidence is presented demonstrating central role intelligence plays in American life; second is Spearman's g, the general factor underlying individual differences involving cognitive ability. Concludes that data does not…

The brain needs energy, oxygen, and water to operate. Access to the bathroom pass can become a major conflict between teachers and students and has great potential for disrupting classes. The classroom can be humanized by granting more bathroom passes and allowing water bottles. (MLH)

Tested 101 adults, aged 77, who had completed psychometric intelligence testing in 1932, with the same test of mental ability. Results of this study, the longest follow-up study reported to date, show substantial stability in mental ability differences from childhood to late life. (SLD)

This study compared social learning styles of distance education students (N=40) and equivalent on-campus students (N=63) in health education classes. Comparison on the Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Scales found distance students favored independent learning styles whereas students in the on-campus class were significantly more dependent…

Presents data showing that the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory's (CDI) large variability, lack of stability, and insufficient ability to predict early language delay are authentic reflections of individual differences in early language development rather than measurement deficiencies. Responds to critiques regarding sociodemographic…

Everyone appreciates a second chance. Effective teachers realize the value of a second chance when initial strategies fail to elicit optimal learning. Repecharge has a special effect on extroverted students, who frequently blurt out inappropriate responses. Reflective, introvertive students also appreciate the opportunity for later comments. Links…

Educators should recognize that different attitudes toward work are permissible. Self-fulfillment is only contingently tied to work. Schools should not present work as essential to self-identity happiness, or self-fulfillment. Work is an important value that assumes different priorities in people's lives. Education for work should reflect this…

Examines two interpretations of Dewey's philosophy of education, one that requires intolerance and one that requires tolerance of individual differences, arguing that there is much truth to the multicultural interpretation, but that multiculturalism must be qualified to properly capture Dewey's position. The essay emphasizes the consequences of…

Three brain-research principles--emotional safety, appropriate challenge, and self-constructed meaning--find a one-size-fits-all approach to classroom teaching ineffective for most students. A child needing an open learning environment will feel intimidated by a controlling teacher. Differentiated classrooms are responsive to students' varying…

Vocabulary development of a sample of 42 Italian children was evaluated through monthly administration of the Italian version of the CDI. Data collection started at age one for 32 children and a few moths later for the remaining subjects and continued until children's vocabulary reached 200 words. At fixed stages of vocabulary size, individual…

Educational mass marketing approaches are like fast-food franchises; they offer homogeneous, standardized products that cannot satisfy every consumer's needs. A niche market looks inside the masses to address more individual, specialized choices missing from the menu. Variability, not uniformity, should guide development of public schooling. (MLH)

Tests the hypothesis that holistic students tend to use communication strategies that are based on holistic comparison, and analytic students tend to use strategies that are based on description and segmental perspectives. Suggests that individual differences in patterns of communication strategy usage can be attributed in part to cognitive style.…