Investigates the psychological and neurobiological aspects of music learning that is described as a process of incrementally differentiating mental representations. Finds that the verbally trained subjects exhibited an increase over the left cortex whereas the musically trained showed an increase over the right and bilateral brain areas; the…

Evaluated the impact of training and experience on the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of AmeriCorps child-care volunteers in North Carolina. Found that Corps members completed successful training, but, after nine months of service, showed a decline in the appropriateness of their interactions with children. (JS)

A study asked 100 individuals with hearing impairments to complete alcohol and drug program pretreatment and posttreatment surveys. Following treatment, improvements were found in participants' attitudes, vocabulary related to substance abuse, and knowledge of issues relating to treatment. Ten recommendations for future treatment programs are…

Examines the effect of knowledge about language on the learning of foreign language skills and grammar. Students (n=252) completed a questionnaire, metalinguistic awareness test, Raven's Progressive Matrices Test, a linguistic creativity test, and English tests. Hypothesized that students' knowledge about language would have a significant effect…

Investigates 4- and 7-year-olds' understanding of biological inheritance of physical characteristics for cows and horses. Explores the effects of an intervention technique to improve children's understanding of inheritance. Reveals significant age differences in judgments and explanations of inheritance. No significant improvements resulted from…

This study examined domestic violence shelter workers' perceptions about their knowledge, skills, and training interests regarding the addictive process. More experienced workers perceived themselves as having less knowledge and fewer skills than did less experienced workers. Shelter workers expressed overall interest in training, and authors…

The purpose of this research was to determine how an inquiry-based, whole-plant instructional strategy would affect preservice elementary teachers' understanding of plant science principles. This study probed: what preservice teachers know about plant biology concepts before and after instruction, their views of the interrelatedness of plant parts…

In an effort to prepare student affairs professionals to effectively address gay, lesbian, and bisexual concerns on their campuses, the American College Personnel Association developed a workshop entitled the "Beyond Tolerance Roadshow." Participants in six workshops reported the awareness, knowledge, and skills they gained and ways in which they…

A frequent criticism of technology applications in classrooms is that they are little more than extraneous bells and whistles pointlessly tacked onto routine instruction. The flash and splash of a PowerPoint presentation may look good, but many question the value added to student learning. This leads to the question, how can technologies genuinely…

In this study, African American English (AAE)-speaking children's comprehension of 2 different types of double negative sentences was examined and contrasted with that of a comparison group of Standard American English (SAE)-speaking children. The first type of double negative, negative concord, involves 2 negative elements in a sentence that are…

This study assessed the effects of an environmental education (EE) course on college students' responsible environmental behavior and associated environmental literacy variables. This undergraduate course emphasized issue investigating-evaluation and action training. A nonequivalent control group design was used. The results of this study showed…

Multicultural, feminist and postmodern theorists generally concur that knowledge is socially constructed and that education becomes more effective and democratic when curriculum and instruction are modified to reflect this fact. Much of the knowledge students encounter within schools, however, is presented as though it were discovered, objective…

This study looked at undergraduate students' scores on a mathematics placement exam, mathematics courses taken and grades received, and persistence toward a degree. It was determined that a student's timely progress toward a four-year degree is influenced by the student's initial score on the mathematics placement exam and by subsequent…

The authors examined knowledge, interest, and strategic processing profiles within special education for 4 educational communities. Participants included undergraduates not majoring in special education and undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty from special education. Cluster analysis tested whether participants would exhibit the…

Recent trends in cognitive science have not made scientific literacy easier to attain, but they have made the practices through which educators meet its challenges more interpretable. Traditionally, cognitive scientists viewed knowledge as a set of propositions comprised of classical concepts, thought as logical inference and language as a literal…