The "biography of place" can be available in the objective (currently valid and predominant) history of a given region of residence or it can be created by individuals in the process of reflections on their own social identity, which is defined by their place of living. Each perspective is conditioned by an epistemological and…

A discussion of the role of the Japanese language in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) classroom in Japan presents several arguments in favor of using Japanese, followed by some notes of caution and a call to teachers to reflect on their classroom language use. Arguments for using students' native language (L1) include these: in mixed level…

A group of 100 randomly selected women living in the resettlement colony of Ambedkernager in South Delhi, India, who had participated in colony's Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) were interviewed regarding their participation in the TLC. Of the 100 women, 34 had attended school earlier. Four of the 34 women were still attending school. Most…

A sample of 72 nuclear power plant operators in requalification training at a southeastern nuclear power facility was studied to investigate the role of trainees' perceptions of their self-regulatory activities in explaining achievement in an industrial training setting. Respondents completed the Self-Regulatory Activities Survey, which was a…

Threaded discussion forums are asynchronous, World Wide Web-based discussions occurring under a number of different topics called threads. By allowing students to post, read, and respond to messages independently of time or place, threaded discussion forums give students an opportunity for deeper reflection and more thoughtful replies than chat…

This curriculum framework presents a philosophy of arts education, synthesizes current research, and sets learning standards for students from kindergarten through 12th grade in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The curriculum framework's core concept is that experience in the creative process is essential for all learners, and that, in the arts,…

This descriptive study investigates the uses of SMART Board, an interactive electronic whiteboard, in secondary school foreign language classes. The paper first discusses how SMART Board can facilitate the teaching process. SMART Board supports the foreign language teaching process in three main ways: it helps the presentation of new linguistic…

This paper investigates the potential relationship of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to gesture and second language learning. It is asserted that the ZPD is both a tool and a result, not a tool for result; it is both product and process at the same time. The process of learning a new language/culture in the case of a person who is…

Examines the loss in popularity of contrastive linguistics as a method for explaining second language learning systems, and calls for a turn to pragmatics in language teaching. (AM)

The authors discuss the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of learning typewriting, student attitudes toward learning, their self-concept, and teacher attitudes toward student learning ability, with learning conditions and motivation techniques for effective typewriting instruction. (MF)

Presents an account of a week of learning and instruction from a high school physics course to provide a context for discussion of the role and demands of teacher inquiry. Argues coordination of student inquiry and traditional content is a matter of discerning and responding to students' particular strengths and needs. (Author/KB)

Examined kindergartners' and third graders' recall to test the effects of four learning strategies applied to items involving three conceptual relations--taxonomic, contextual, and unrelated. Found that (using a constructivist framework for interpretation) learner activity and causal processing improved memory when memory was not supported by…

This article is a review of the impact upon science learning of classroom and laboratory uses of computers in grades K-16 as revealed by published, peer-reviewed research from 1988-95. Highlights include problems with media-comparison studies, computer-assisted instruction, computer simulations, microcomputer-based laboratories, interactive video,…

Reviews Betty Edwards' self-instruction book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," and discusses the motivational techniques used in that work. Argues that these techniques, designed to build student self-confidence, explain the book's popularity and provide instructive examples for other art teachers. (MJP)

Examined the universality and uniqueness of educational value orientations of American and Chinese physical education teachers. Surveys indicated that though there were some differences between cultures, both Chinese and American teachers valued discipline mastery and self-actualization value orientations. (SM)