Educators, scholars, and researchers in the United States convened at the Forum on Early Childhood Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education to discuss how, when, and even if science, mathematics, and technology should be taught to pre-kindergarten children. The product of that forum, this book summarizes some of the latest thinking about…

This paper discusses the various aspects of mathematics teaching and learning at the elementary school level. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards are reviewed by giving examples and a list of principles of learning in mathematics is offered. Principles include the following: 1) the need for pupils to perceive learning…

This book contains readings supplement information provided by a group of principals, teachers, and researchers participating in the U.S. Department of Education's National Satellite Teleconference, "Students at the Center." The March 1998 broadcast shared key findings on planning, implementing, and sustaining comprehensive school…

This book extends the ideas of the competency and quality movements in higher education to definitions of learning outcomes that deal with an unknown future, and to accountability as a consequence rather than a focus. It argues that ways of teaching (bringing learning about), assessment (finding out what has been learned), and university…

Many educators look upon schools as the exclusive site at which meaningful learning can take place. Those educators would benefit from seeing the possibilities offered by non-school environments. This paper argues that the museum is a full-fledged educational institution, and focuses on how the museum may be seen as a site for the inquiries of…

The study was designed to investigate the learning processes in discrimination shift learning, in terms of developmental views of "logical manipulation by classification." Tasks comparing sizes of intradimensional value-classes and comparing sizes of interdimensional value-classes were devised in order to measure subjects' levels of…

The role of discourse in education, specifically in the science classroom, is discussed. The discussion is based on the idea that talk in the classroom is not an end in itself but a means for inquiry, exploration, even activity, and expression of concepts. A framework for analysis of classroom discourse is outlined. In this approach, discourse is…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the relationship between the outcome of collective team learning and the extent of differences in power that team members have available to them. This successful outcome is defined as the production of new knowledge. The study examined four teams in the research and development department of a…

This book presents issues concerning relationships between mathematical knowledge and the teaching and learning processes, focusing especially on the genesis of mathematical knowledge in the classroom. The chapter titles are: (1) The Fragility of Knowledge (Guy Brousseau and Michael Otte); (2) The Double Bind as a Didactical Trap (Stieg…

In learning environments which provide little structure (e.g., hypermedia systems) students have an especially strong need to regulate and control their own learning. However, a review of the literature indicates that merely providing learners with flexible learning environments does not necessarily mean that they will effectively explore and…

A model for analyzing classroom interaction is presented. The model focuses on two issues: management of turn-taking and the relationship between ways of interacting and outcome of the teaching/learning process. Turn-taking is seen as one element of conversational style, in which speakers signal degree of involvement by using different linguistic…

A study investigated children's use of three acoustic parameters (intensity, fundamental frequency, and duration) in the production of two-syllable nonsense words. Subjects were six children each at ages 2, 3, and 4 years with age-appropriate language skills and normal hearing sensitivity. An examiner produced eight novel two-syllable words of…

Reading is fundamental to learning. Vital to learning is memory, which is the mental faculty used to retrieve what was read and understood. The human brain is about the size of a grapefruit and weighs about as much as a head of cabbage. The cerebral cortex is a kind of problem-solving and memorizing device. The hippocampus plays a critically…

Intended for practitioners, this book provides a valuable resource by offering teachers a volume of practical exercises for introducing and reinforcing a variety of fundamental thinking skills. Each exercise allows teachers and students in grades six through nine to focus on a selected thinking skill while serving as a stimulant for thoughtful…

Educational measurement is presented as integral to the process of entering into and guiding conversations in which teachers and students participate. A measurement model patterned on the playful, interactive back-and-forth motion of conversation could aid in overcoming problems in teacher-student interactions. According to H. G. Gadamer,…