This article applies the concept of mediation to pupils who are or may be gifted as well as to motivational and psychological functions. It uses Feuerstein's theory of Mediated Learning Experience to analyze Renzulli's Enrichment Model for the gifted including underachieving and disabled gifted students and concludes that correct mediation…

This article reviews the life of the educational psychologist, Lev S. Vygotsky, as it affected the development of his ideas about the education of children with disabilities. These ideas include the necessity of considering not only the primary disability but also the secondary, tertiary and subsequent strata affecting the student's learning. (DB)

Inquisitiveness is what drives children's learning. Cognitive scientists have devised constructivist theory to explain how an individual progresses from curiosity to new knowledge. Formal schooling has struggled unsuccessfully to simulate real-life learning situations. Emerging brain research supports bringing the community into the learning…

Presents an instructional model, using Kleist's story "Das Erdbeben in Chili" and Christa Wolf's novel Kei Ort. Nirgends" as a basis. The model clearly distinguishes itself from quantitative models and mediates solid literary knowledge through an inductive approach. Learning takes place in a multidimensional space that makes possible multiple…

Two experiments found that German-speaking dyslexic 9-year-olds showed impaired learning of pseudonames in several visual-verbal learning tasks, even when phonological retrieval cues were provided and when pseudonames were presented in spoken and printed form. There was no deficit when short, familiar words were used, and no difficulty in…

Describes a study of Taiwanese 14-year-olds' (n=48) cognitive structures derived from the instruction of basic atomic physics. Finds that even academically above-average students tended to use relatively lower-level modes of knowledge construction, focusing on reciting or describing specific factual knowledge in physics. (Contains 27 references.)…

Examines how television viewing alters the way children learn and relate to their world. Describes Montessori's view of the learning process and the importance of the carefully arranged environment. Presents evidence that television interferes with learning and that reading assists the learning process. Differentiates the development of…

Discusses ways in which technology is changing mathematics education. Highlights include guidelines for appropriate technology use in the mathematics classroom; the impact of computers on mathematics learning; common uses of computers in mathematics education, including software, the Internet, and programming; and issues and concerns related to…

Describes the author's research on learning and brain activity, which involved more than 5,000 students and faculty members. Explores six stages of learning: (1) preparing to learn; (2) starting to learn; (3) consolidation; (4) branching out; (5) gaining fluency; and (6) continued improving. States that merging educational research with…

Describes the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education, noting parallels with a dynamic systems theory (DST) approach to motor behavior. Feldenkrais uses movement and perception to foster individualized improvement in function. DST explains that a human-environment system continually adapts to changing conditions and assembles behaviors…

Examined two aspects of the specificity of practice hypothesis using a tracking task. In one experiment, visual or auditory feedback about performance was provided. In a second experiment, visual and auditory information were combined. Both experiments supported the specificity of practice hypothesis. Instructing participants to attend to one…

Examines the views of a representative sample of experts in physics, physics education, and history and philosophy of science (HPS) on the incorporation of HPS-based materials in physics instruction. Reports on three areas: (1) the rationale to include HPS; (2) the most appropriate ways of doing so; and (3) anticipated difficulties with such a new…

Introduces a web site designed to teach descriptive chemistry through testing. (YDS)

Discusses a concept used at the University of Twente based on increased flexibility in learning options and the active student in which there are assignments submitted and monitored via a Web-based course management system. Outlines conceptual aspects of feedback as part of the assessment process, particularly feedback supported by a Web-based…

Discusses the design and teaching of an online undergraduate course and considers similarities and differences of learning and teaching in traditional and electronic environments. Highlights include instructional design; course assignments; student course evaluations; and the relationship between course curriculum and goals, pedagogy, and student…