Examination of the language teaching principles of Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670), the father of modern language teaching, as an autonomous discipline, reveals strikingly modern answers to some fundamental questions: What is language?; How are languages learned?; Who should learn them and why?; and What should be taught, and how? (MSE)

Describes three studies concerned with learning to operate a control panel device and how this learning is affected by understanding a device model that describes its internal mechanism. Results indicate benefits of a device model depend on whether it supports direct inference of exact steps required to operate the device. (Author/MBR)

The visual arts can play an important role in the adolescent's struggle to link the inner world of thoughts and feelings with the outer world of expressive form. The Summer Visual Arts Institute, organized by Boston University for adolescents, is described. (RM)

Three types of student-student interaction patterns (cooperative, competitive, and individualistic) can be structured for learning of physical skills. Students were studied to observe which type of interaction process promoted learning the golf skill of putting. Results are presented. (Author/DF)

The computer in the education setting can serve as tutor, tool, and tutee. A five-stage model of skill acquisition is offered that explores the use of computers and learning styles. (DF)

The nature and purpose of parental speech in the language acquisition process of the young child is explored in this article. The effect of the quality and quantity of parental speech on the child's language development and linguistic interactions among language-delayed children are discussed. (DF)

Fifty-two field-dependent and 52 field-independent female undergraduates were studied under four study technique conditions using a taped lecture. Analyses of test performance and notes taken by students revealed a significant interaction of cognitive style and study technique. Performance differences and relevance for future notetaking research…

Looks at what is entailed when education and experience are regarded as equivalent. Identifies faulty inferences resulting from learning by experience. Considers how experience can close avenues to conceptual and social change. Argues that ideas based on secondhand information are more likely than firsthand experience to manifest both the real and…

Skilled and less skilled beginning readers (n=54) were taught to read and define 10 printed pseudowords. Post-tests revealed that experimentals retaining spellings in memory as orthographic images remembered spellings better than controls who received comparable training without the memory component. (PN)

Identifies three categories of specific aptitudes pertinent to success in school. Cites research that indicates a person will learn more effectively if material is presented in a mode matched to his aptitude profile, and advocates consideration of this in preparing instructional materials or selecting textbooks. (GS)

The learning process is more than rational, said this author, and the path of experiential teaching has led him to the personal discovery that it is possible to teach more effectively psychologically than logically. (Author/RK)

A primary head teacher's reaction to the effect of contrasting teaching methods on children's progress and achievement in primary schools is the subject of this article. (Editor/RK)

Two experiments found reduced proactive inhibition when subjects were induced to use the nonpreferred components of a compound stimulus during first-list learning. (Editor)

When subjects learned paired associates that, on the study trials, consisted of a stimulus (cue) and its correct (target) response plus two other (distractor) responses from within the list, the presence of the distractor items interfered with learning, especially when overtly pronounced as opposed to silently studied. (Editor)

Concludes that the role of the teacher as researcher in children's development of thinking and socialization through play is multi-dimensional. The initial function is the internal analysis of children's thinking and interaction within a variety of settings. (Author)