Reviews Betty Edwards' self-instruction book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," and discusses the motivational techniques used in that work. Argues that these techniques, designed to build student self-confidence, explain the book's popularity and provide instructive examples for other art teachers. (MJP)

Examines the relationship between handwriting and early drawing. Maintains that often the quality of line in drawing becomes more reserved as the acquisition of the skill of writing-as-script becomes more fluid and automatic. Includes exercises that illustrate this process and use handwriting to explore creativity. (MJP)

Describes the Scaffolding Reading Experience, a technique that helps students deal with challenging expository texts and supports social science inquiry methods. This technique relies on various supporting activities during the prereading, during-reading, and postreading phases. Outlines a series of these activities used during a U.S. history…

A survey of 2,071 first-year students in university distance-education programs found the two most common learning strategies were repetitive reading of course materials and summarization of facts. Wide variation in strategies was found, apparently determined by both learner characteristics and nature and design of instructional materials,…

A teacher's journal reflects her experience of designing and teaching writing courses at a Massachusetts alternative high school for high-risk students, her experience of using writing for personal healing, and the resistance she encountered when encouraging students to use writing as a means for personal growth and overcoming trauma. (LP)

A year-long study followed two bilingual (English/Spanish) middle school teachers as training helped them to develop a new way of interacting with students during content teaching. To enhance student comprehension, the teachers moved away from concurrent translation and made efforts to distribute language usage so that they spent equal amounts of…

Recounts a portfolio writing assignment designed to help students develop better study skills, increase metacognitive awareness, and use self-reflection to evaluate their performance during the semester. Students completed surveys and journal entries assessing their strategies for reading and studying, as well as, performance goals, emotional…

Advocates and outlines an instructional strategy for developing critical-thinking skills in sociology classes. The "panning-for-gold" strategy requires students to interact continually with the material through questioning and evaluation. Includes a template of suggestions for critically evaluating material. Test results showed…

Describes the use of interactive online instruction in preprofessional training programs for dieticians at three universities that incorporated cooperative learning strategies. Discusses computer attitudes, technology use, demographic variables, previous computer experience, amount of time spent, self-efficacy with the World Wide Web, evaluation…

Reports findings of a survey, asking 1000 secondary social studies teachers to rate 36 specialist-designed reading practices. Shows teachers value and employ these techniques: (1) provide suitable materials; (2) offer instruction and guidance; (3) develop readiness through prereading; (4) encourage recitation, discussion, and comparative reading.…

Explores implications of Vygotskian developmental model for teaching number concepts to children with communication difficulties. Postulates these children develop individualized learning strategies that reflect the context of their condition. Discusses a study involving number conservation among children with communication difficulties. Advocates…

This article is a case study of two distance education graduate courses offered by means of computer-mediated communications at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Topics discussed include adult learning; student interactions; teacher's roles; student achievement; student attitudes; small groups versus learning partners; and…

Describes study that was designed to explore the verbal interaction and problem solving behaviors occurring within small learning groups of fourth graders working cooperatively on a computer-assisted problem solving task. Ability groupings are described and factors relating to the successful completion of the task are discussed. (28 references)…

Presents several instructional techniques. Discusses cueing, set, continuous reinforcement, and using positive feedback. Considers the learning styles of students and the type of classroom that is conductive to learning. Provides examples. (MVL)

Describes study conducted at the University Sains Malaysia with pharmacy students that compared a videotaped demonstration with a conventional laboratory experiment in physiology to determine the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the instructional media. Treatment for the experimental and control groups are described, and results are…