Describes Instructor's Plan (IP), a computer-based expert system that was developed for preservice and inservice school teachers to use for creating effective lesson plans more quickly and easily. Components of the system include instructional design principles, instructional strategies based on specific learning conditions, and eight levels of…

Describes and compares various assumptions of instructional design and of constructivism, some of which have been raised in other articles in this issue. Topics discussed include instructional design theory; instructional systems theory; mental models; categories of knowledge; knowledge representation; instructional strategies; collaborative…

Argues that, even though it may not be possible to change an individuals basic cognitive style, it may be possible to make the learning process more transparent. It is also suggested that strategy training can be useful, providing principles for such training, and practical suggestions for teacher training courses and classroom practices. (37…

Presents theoretical bases for making language (and its study) the essential agent in the generation of thought and meaning. Suggests strategies to engage students (and instructors) in the creation of meaning and the negotiation of knowledge. Argues that such epistemological uses of language can empower developmental students to become early and…

This second installment in a series of edited transcripts based on a conference held at Utah State University in 1987 reviews the main points of Merrill's Learning Theory. The performance content matrix is explained, primary presentation forms are described, and the concepts of student responsibility and learner control are discussed. (Three…

Thirteen content-area teachers of mildly disabled adolescents rated six cognitive strategy-based adaptive teaching procedures for facilitating content mastery. The teachers rated the strategies' familiarity, value, use, assistance needed to routinely implement, and reasonableness of being expected to implement. The teachers highly valued and…

Offers a five-step direct-instruction strategy for teaching main idea comprehension. (MG)

Presents 10 models providing a solid foundation for designing curricula that help students make valuable connections while learning. Beginning with exploration within single disciplines (the fragmented, connected, and nested models), and continuing with models integrating across several disciplines, the continuum ends with models operating within…

Examines whether vocabulary acquisition in a foreign language by inferring the meaning of a word from its context makes an important contribution toward the retention of the word in question so long as the meaning is correctly guessed. (49 references) (GLR)

Examines Heinrich Schliemann's method of acquiring a second language primarily by means of conscious learning. It is revealed that Schliemann probably obtained a great deal of comprehensible input in English. (nine references) (GLR)

Introduces the topic of strategies education, summarizing the contributions to this special issue on strategies education. Emphasizes the importance of collaborations between researchers and practitioners to ensure that strategies education programs are practical and implementable. (MDM)

Three teachers who had used reciprocal teaching for at least a year were observed and interviewed as part of an effort to develop a model of reciprocal teaching that would work well in classrooms. These teachers used conventional reciprocal teaching as a starting point for creating instruction they believed to be more powerful and effective than…

Describes how a North Carolina elementary school altered teaching methods to suit the varied learning styles of the students based on the results of a learning styles inventory. Discusses changes made based on students' perceptual preferences, time of day preferences, environmental preferences, and sociological preferences. Notes that discipline…

Offers portraits of the various approaches to learning of 3 students who quit school during their junior high years and (at 16 years of age) had returned to school. (SR)

Two studies examined young children's knowledge of letters' sounds and names and preschoolers' ability to learn various sound-letter mappings. Findings indicated that an important determinant of letter-sound knowledge is whether the sound occurs in the name of the letter, and its location. Children used knowledge of letters' names when learning…