This paper explores a form of classroom discourse, organized around student argumentation, that brings into focus an alternative view of science and science education as socially and culturally constituted, meaning-making activities. To elaborate the differences between this emerging discourse practice and conventional practice, two examples are…

Sometimes multimedia presentations can provide an abundance of glamour without a clear vision of communicative content and direction. These may be called "show and show" displays. A presentation with a more apparent message or purpose could fall into either the "show and tell" or the "show and sell" category. Used…

A study examined the effects on early literacy learning of two dimensions of learning contexts: formality (peer writing and pretend play) and social relationships (friends and acquaintances). Same gender dyads of kindergarten friends were observed in peer writing and pretend play settings across the school year. A total of 33 males and 23 females…

Noting that understanding a child's brain and the way it develops is the key to understanding learning, this book explores the relationship between brain physiology and children's learning processes. The book first translates the most current scientific theories on nervous-system development into practical information for parents. It then details…

Piagetian and Vygotskian theories may be used as starting points to examine the role of play in development and learning from a constructivist perspective, including how children use play to deepen their understanding and skills, encounter new problems, and incorporate newly mastered skills into their play. Contemporary factors such as an emphasis…

How do good science students perceive the process of learning science? What occurs in the learning process that motivates students to accept the challenge of pursuing a career in science? This paper reports on panel discussions held by teams of medical students, research science doctoral students, science education students, and high school…

Calling for redoubled emphasis on the performative and political dimensions of rhetorical study, some scholars recommend an "activist turn" in rhetorical criticism. In the context of the study of social movements, an engaged and active stance can enable critics to become direct participants in the field of social action. The promise of a…

The Cartesian/Newtonian vision of human existence is outmoded because modern quantum physics has rendered it inaccurate. Quantum theory has demonstrated that the world cannot be reduced to independent and separate elements. The notion that there is an external, objective reality "out there," separate from the self, to be classified, measured,…

Two studies examined the impact of songs on students' verbatim recall and understanding of central story information. In a naturalistic study, students who had frequently viewed an educational television song about the Preamble to the Constitution later (as young adults) recalled the words verbatim better than did those who had been infrequent…

"Deep" approaches to learning, as defined by Biggs (1987) and others, would generally mean that a student is interested in the academic task, searches for meaning in the task, personalizes the task, integrates aspects of the task into a whole, sees relationships between this whole and previous knowledge, and tries to theorize about the…

Common characteristics in the theory and process of two instructional models, one in critical thinking skills and one in library skills, were isolated in this study. Content analysis of selected materials from Robert H. Ennis's critical thinking model and Carol C. Kuhlthau's library skills model showed the absence or presence of common…

A study of infant language acquisition investigated the possibility that perceptual or attentional tendencies may guide early word learning by directing infants' attention in linguistically relevant ways. In the experiment, infants aged 9 to 13 months watched a puppet show; with some children, sentences labeling either the objects (noun-frame…

This digest contrasts the traditional view of learning characteristic of classroom instruction with the emerging "constructivist" view that emphasizes the understanding of how and why students learn. The latter takes learning as a knowledge construction process that closely relates to prior knowledge and the learning context. It lends…

Recent reforms in social education have emphasized the study of history and global education. Thus, educators expect students to develop historical empathy and the ability to take divergent cultural perspectives. In other words, students should be able to see the world as others see it. From a psychological perspective this capacity is known as…

The controversy over the optimal age for learning a second language is discussed, examining, from the perspective of Piagetian theory: (1) the argument which suggests that children have an advantage in language learning; and (2) the arguments which states that adults have an advantage in language learning. The first part provides an overview of…