This study compared use of trainer demonstrations and use of visual cues across varying difficulties of task, by 20 mentally retarded secondary-aged students. Results found that photographs and line drawings were more effective with mildly/moderately retarded students than demonstrations when working with complex tasks. No differences were found…

The study used 32 children (mean age 11 years) with moderate sensorineural hearing losses to examine whether Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL) scores were significantly affected by mode of presentation. No differences were found between auditory-only and auditory-visual modes of presentation. (Author/DB)

Results of an experimental metacognitive training study of 64 10th graders suggest that graphic organizers, using precise graphical/ pictorial cues, improves reading comprehension of self-perceived, test-confirmed, low-achieving readers by inducing "look-back" or rereading of specific passages to locate test question answers. An appendix contains…

The study examined the effectiveness of using sign language (Signing Exact English) to facilitate reading in students classified as trainable mentally handicapped. Results indicated that subjects learning to read words with an accompanying sign identified and retained significantly more vocabulary than did students learning to read in a…

The Teacher Education and Learning to Teach (TELT) study examined not only preservice and inservice programs but also induction programs and alternative teaching routes. Findings are summarized for subject matter knowledge, accommodation of diverse learners, mentoring, alternative certification programs, preservice programs, and improvement of…

Explains the developmental pathways of the School Development Program: physical, psychoemotional, social-interactive, speech/language, cognitive-intellectual, and moral-ethical. Describes its principles, including identification, imitation, internalization, interpersonal relationships, language mediation, and recognition that all children can…

Videotaped productions of isolated American Sign Language signs or sentences were presented at speeds of two to six times normal. Results indicated a breakdown in intelligibility at around 2.5 to 3 times the normal rate. Results are similar to those found for auditory reception of time-compressed speech suggesting a modality-independent limit to…

Discussion of the use of technology to meet the needs of individual student's learning styles in law school explores various learning style theories, considers the pedagogical attributes of Web-based instruction, and then reports on use of learning theory and technology in skills-based courses at Texas Tech Law School. Assessment of student…

Examines the relationship between perceptual modality measured by the Swassing-Barbe Modality Index (SBMI) to musical aptitude measured by Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) in kindergarten students. Reports correlations between the measures that support findings at other grade levels. Supports the theory that perceptual modalities become…

A study of the ways science students transformed their teacher's description of cells suggests that learning is multimodal, arising from the interaction of visual, verbal, and linguistic communication. It demonstrates that learning is a process of selection, adaptation, and transformation of information across communication systems. (Author/SK)

Looks at the notion made popular in the 1960's by Paul Hirst and Richard Peters that knowledge is intrinsic to the educational enterprise. Suggests that the acquisition of knowledge remains the primary justification for educational experiences, and proposes a concept of knowledge as "rationality's database". (Contains 16 references.) (NB)

The paper reports a study that investigated the construction of a common identity in an online Italian forum of psychologists based on asynchronous CMC. Discourse analysis was carried out on 20 discussions, and three Interpretative Repertoires were identified: (i) Professional Boundaries, (ii) disempowered psychology and (iii) psychology and…

In 3 experiments, the authors simulated air traffic controllers giving pilots navigation instructions of various lengths. Participants either heard or read the instructions; repeated either all, a reduced form, or none of the instructions; and then followed them by clicking on the specified locations in a space represented by grids on a computer…

This study examined the effect of incorporating a visuo-haptic and haptic (tactual-kinaesthetic) exploration of letters in a training designed to develop phonemic awareness, knowledge of letters and letter/sound correspondences, on 5-year-old children's understanding and use of the alphabetic principle. Three interventions, which differed in the…

Using cognitive load theory and cognitive theory of multimedia learning as a framework, we conducted two within-subject experiments with 10 participants each in order to investigate (1) if the audiovisual presentation of verbal and pictorial learning materials would lead to a higher demand on phonological cognitive capacities than the visual-only…