This 2-year study, which took a multidisciplinary approach to the problem of discovering principles for designing effective multimedia instruction, focused on the effects on instructional effectiveness of the discourse structure of instructional materials and the coordination of multiple instructional media. The task domain was a logic box said to…

The curriculum guide for Alberta's six-year French language program, which spans grades 7 through 12 and is designed to increase program effectiveness through greater specificity, improved articulation, and increased instructional time, includes the following components: a set of objectives reflecting the province's goals of basic education and a…

The focus of this paper is on how children use print, or literate language, in school and how teachers can respond and work with children. Beginning with a literature review, the paper discusses language use and literate language development in young children, pointing out that children construct their experiences through using language, and that…

To examine the role of elaborations in learning a procedural skill (i.e., using a personal computer) from an instructional text, 88 members of the Carnegie-Mellon University community (students, faculty, and staff members) participated in two experiments. Experimental sessions consisted of a reading period followed by a task performance period in…

This handbook suggests ways elementary school teachers might use industrial arts (IA) activities as an alternative to traditional textbook assignments to teach or to reinforce some skills included in the state list of essential learning skills. An overview provides background information: a definition, content, scope and sequence for IA, and the…

Focusing on how expert writers in various disciplines convey complex ideas, this paper shows how the techniques used by the mathematician, Clark Kimberling, in various writings can (1) be transferred to other disciplines, (2) show learning taking place, and (3) provide models for students to re-enact learning in all subject areas. The paper…

This document presents three papers dealing with trade and industrial education research. "Educating the Vocational Teacher Educator" (Clyde Knight) reports a study to identify needs of vocational teacher educators to improve existing programs and make necessary changes in doctoral programs. "The Relationship between Perceived…

Activities and interactions of teachers and students from high school science classes of Western Australia were investigated. Fifteen teachers from two co-educational high schools (private and public) serving medium socio-economic level families in the metropolitan area of Perth participated in the study. The specific foci were: (1) the…

This biblography presents 187 citations on the topic of homework. Material was located in five general areas: (1) books; (2) viewpoint articles; (3) empirical research; (4) experimental research; and (5) various reviews of homework literature. The range of topics covered in the bibliography include such subjects as parental involvement in…

Discusses the nature and sequencing of decisions involved in designing a game, simulation, or workshop from the theoretical perspective of course and curriculum design. A model for design is presented that incorporates objectives, teaching/learning methods, content, and assessment/evaluation, and other models are also discussed. (Author/LRW)

Examines (1) how students evaluate information obtained in the science laboratory; (2) the effects of use of microcomputer-based laboratory; and, (3) the effects of explicit instruction on critical evaluation skills. Discusses results in terms of students' propensity to accept incorrect graphs and in terms of the effect of the enhanced instruction…

Argues that most teachers do not understand the nature of human memory. Presents an informal introduction to human memory, including information on long-term retention, prior knowledge, retrieval, and cues. States that instructors can design memory-compatible instruction that makes recording and retrieval of new knowledge easier. (TW)

Describes the novice-to-expert model of human learning and compares it to the recent advances in the areas of artificial intelligence and expert systems. Discusses some of the characteristics of experts, proposing connections between them with expert systems and theories of left-right brain functions. (TW)

Reports on an investigation into characterizing the guided design instructional method in engineering education using Jungian typology to evaluate specific teaching-learning interactions. Proposes that the guided design method offers a well-balanced learning process which accommodates different learning styles and teaches decision making. (TW)

Examines the concept of the cognitively active learner and discusses the following categories of learning strategies: rehearsal, elaboration, organization, comprehension monitoring, and affective. (NKA)