A study examined an assumption commonly held by many smoking prevention programs that social skills can affect the onset of tobacco smoking. Data from 129 sixth graders were used to predict smoking behavior 15 months later. Five skill variables emerged as the best predictors of future smoking. (Author/CB)

Examines forms of media in today's electronic environment including television, microcomputers, video games, and music television, and considers these media forms and their effects on cognitive processing. Implications for teachers and instructional designers in achieving curricular balance between print and electronic media are discussed. (MBR)

The Learning Style Inventory assesses learners' preferences. This study was designed to determine reliability and construct validity of Kolb's original ipsative instrument and an alternate normative form. The alternate version was found as reliable as the original, was equivalent in measuring characteristics, and demonstrated comparable construct…

Summarizes a study carried out into expectations and perceptions of students and staff on two vocationally oriented postgraduate courses. The research attempted to raise the level of awareness about these types of courses by describing the ways in which students and staff cope with the teaching and learning situations they meet on the courses.…

Reviews the literature on graphic literacy particularly in relation to vocational education. The concept of graphic literacy is explained in terms of the Development Model of Literacy. It was recommended that further research be conducted to clarify how graphics materials assist comprehension and how they could be most beneficially used within…

This study examines differences in study skills and learning styles of students enrolled at the University of Scranton in the four business school majors of accounting, economics/finance, management, and marketing. It also compares these differences with those of students enrolled in other majors throughout the university. (CT)

Discusses learning modalities and learning styles in science education. Learning modalities characterize the way the brain takes in information (input) and restructures/expresses the information (output). Learning styles are ways that information is processed once it is obtained. Examples (including Kolb's "Learning-Style Inventory") are included.…

This annotated list of references represents current knowledge in five areas related to effective schools and classrooms. These areas are (1) the process of education change; (2) school and classroom culture; (3) student cognition; (4) student affect; and (5) school improvement and staff development. Also included are references to middle school…

Gives examples of classroom organization and instructional techniques that use, rather than ignore, subcultural differences in learning styles in order to increase minorities' achievement in mathematics. (GC)

Starting with H.W. Seliger's distinction between second language learning strategies (abstract cognitive functions used to acquire knowledge) and learning tactics (activities learner uses to acquire language), presents the most important tactics and comments on which learner characteristics and teaching methods take advantage of them. Tactics…

Highlights a workshop exploring the objectives and activities of the Human Habitat Study, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance of a healthful and healing global environment. Workshop activities focused on left/right brain inventory, a rationale for curricula, and a strategy for developing instructional programs. (BC)

Discovery and expository learning were compared in a study of independent and dependent learners enrolled in a college chemistry course. Discovery learning was found to be superior for both groups of learners, with independent students performing better than dependent students using discovery learning. (Author/DF)

A college study examined whether students' ability to learn FORTRAN was related to the characteristic way they separate and organize information. Results and implications for further study are offered. (DF)

The establishment of the "three-dimension-in-one" objectives in the new curriculums has changed the "knowledge-centered" objective model in the traditional teaching syllabuses. This change will cause the transformation of knowledge learning ideology, i.e. from stressing the explicit knowledge acquisition to concerning the value of tacit knowledge.…

For many years educational experts have extolled the benefits of a positive student-teacher relationship. Personal connections between teachers and students can be the key motivator in student interest and achievement in school. Yet teachers have little knowledge about how to establish the relationships that can instill in their students a desire…