Presenters at this conference on teaching at-risk youth focused on the following topics: (1) effective teaching approaches to reach different types of learners; (2) improving the school-as-workplace through collaboration among and support of teachers; (3) successful teaching practice for at-risk students; (4) the cultural orientation of black…

This report documents research and development performed by principal investigators under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research Cognitive and Neural Sciences Division during fiscal year 1989. Programs are conducted under contracts and grants awarded on the basis of proposals received in response to a Broad Agency Announcement in the…

A review of the research literature on teaching and learning in the college classroom is presented. An introduction notes the role of research in identifying new goals for higher education and offers a conceptual framework based on a student mediation model and a focus on the process-product relationships between faculty teacher behavior and…

Intended to aid in the design of computer systems that promote efficient learning and performance, this study compared the effects of using hard copy and online format tutorials on the learning activities of 48 undergraduate students in either design or engineering. The tutorials, which provided instruction on the use of the equipment and basic…

One of the most common misconceptions about probability is the belief that successive outcomes of a random process are not independent. This belief has been dubbed the "gambler's fallacy". The belief that non-normative expectations such as the gambler's fallacy are widely held has inspired probability and statistics instruction that attempts to…

A study demonstrated the viability of an instructional paradigm that identifies adult mediation within the zone of proximal development to be a significant factor in young children's learning. Six teachers participated during the first year and eight teachers during the second year. Complete data were collected for 200 kindergarten children.…

Canada's French immersion program began in 1965 in response to anglophone parent demand for bilingual French/English instruction. Instruction entirely in French begins in kindergarten, and formal English instruction begins in third grade. The program's popularity has caused rapid expansion, with success attributed to changing attitudes toward…

Excerpts are taken from published works, college curricula and handbooks, and other sources to examine the aim of colleges in terms of student outcomes. Written in outline style, the document begins by setting a context. Subsequent sections have the following headings: (1) What Outcomes or Characteristics Do We Think Our Students Will Need To Be…

The Early Intervention for School Success (EISS) program was designed to provide developmentally appropriate instruction in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, by providing the knowledge and skills that teachers and parents need to insure that children in California schools remain happy about learning. This goal is achieved by helping…

A practicum was developed which used improvisation and mapping strategies in the teaching of Shakespearean drama to increase comprehension and to develop a more positive attitude toward Shakespeare and drama in general. Subjects were a target group of 15 students enrolled in a ninth grade English class at a preparatory institution. Subjects, who…

Focusing on the role of intertextuality as young children learn to communicate through writing, art, and music during the course of usual classroom activities, an ethnographic study investigated: (1) how children's understanding and use of written language, music, and graphic/constructive art are embedded in the social worlds of their classroom;…

A study considered whether nonnative English-speaking students are educationally handicapped in American classrooms by their communication competence (CC) and/or communication apprehension (CA). Affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning outcomes of 298 international college students' CA, immediacy (degree of perceived physical or psychological…

A study of the listening strategies of college students for whom English is a second language analyzed their oral and written responses to listening selections. The analysis resulted in 17 individual strategies classified in six broad categories. More and less proficient listeners were distinguishable by the frequency of the strategies they used…

Oral interpretation facilitates the learning processes of adolescents by making the presentation of subject matter more interesting and meaningful to them, helping them feel involved, and providing them with an opportunity to perceive literature in action. Narrative literature is a good place to begin oral interpretation activities, since…

A cognitive developmental theory of reading was proposed and tested in a longitudinal study that (1) compared the development of conceptual reasoning (Piaget's "operativity") and oral language (vocabulary and grammar closure) of 148 Australian children during the first 5 years of school and (2) traced the relationship of these variables to reading…