All students benefit from being challenged by mathematics. Principals can help by letting students know it is okay to struggle and by helping parents understand the struggle. Communicating with parents about math programs can reduce parents' anxiety; create a strong, beneficial home-school partnership; help youngsters take responsibility for their…

Discusses a survey asking parents of 85 4th- through 6th-grade students to describe how their child learns best, based on emotional, sociological, physiological, and environmental elements of the Dunns' Learning Style Inventory. Statistical analysis found no significant correlations between parental perceptions of a child's learning style and the…

Describes an investigation of polygons and their properties in which students apply very basic understandings of geometric properties. (KHR)

Discussion of the cultural complexities of distance learning (DL)programs focuses on collaboration between the Hellenic Open University and the University of Manchester on three distance learning programs. Highlights include courseware; writer mentoring; comparisons of methodological cultures; a conceptualization for the development of appropriate…

Examines the idea that the development of moral ability shares similarities with Lev Vygotsky's theory of concept formation. Argues that understanding moral ability as a present-centered aptitude for creating meaning is significant for educators. Concludes it is useful for understanding the learning process to think and act in the present. (CAJ)

Examines the effects of using a conflict map on 8th grade students' conceptual change and ideational networks about simple series electric circuits. Analyzes student interview data through a flow map method. Shows that the use of conflict maps could help students construct greater, richer, and more integrated ideational networks about electric…

Examines the relationship between high school students' perceptions of their science learning environments and their motivation, learning strategies, and achievement. Discusses the focus of shared perceptions and instruction and indicates that shared perceptions focused on understanding and independent thinking positively predicted students'…

Reports findings from the team teaching of a course in mathematical problem solving designed for secondary and community college teachers to clarify the concept of ."ecessary and sufficient" conditions. Discusses assigned problems and students' incorrect interpretations. Student interpretations showed how simple mistakes can often lead to rich…

Collected qualitative data through interviews and triad elicitation with 5-year-olds in London to determine children's current knowledge and understanding of their "making" activity and of Lego construction kit components. Data provided triangulation for another study that found that young children could achieve a great deal with…

Explores commonalities across and differences between learners in mathematics classrooms. Explores commonalities between learners across mathematics and between communities of practice. Discusses how to address teachers' roles and responsibilities. Investigates differences between syllabus and practice, school mathematics, mathematics in the…

Defends the metaphor of "deep" and "surface" learning as being valid in describing differences in ways students learn, and on the basis of its success in encouraging academic staff to teach in more effective and imaginative ways. Views post-modern theories that endorse extreme relativism as not helpful to the main concerns of…

Discusses curriculum for students with hearing impairments is discussed by using a paradigm of practical curriculum inquiry-based humanistic principles with a primary focus on self-understanding. Curriculum is viewed as being socially grounded and constructed. This reconceptualization of curriculum is based on the fundamental elements of teachers,…

A study of four seventh-graders using an open-ended learning environment (OELE) on mechanical physics combining computer-generated graphics, computer simulations, video, and print-based materials indicated that while learners built and formalized scientific theories, in some cases, they assimilated new data into existing theories, ignored…

Examines assumptions underlying claims regarding educational technology, and as an alternative presents a framework which integrates a bottom-up view of information technology usage and a top-down view of education. Delivery of educational materials, media, computational activities including simulations and computer games, interactivity,…

Compared teaching and learning measures of 16 mother-child and sibling dyads playing a picture categorization game. Found that although siblings' teaching styles directed target children to make the correct choices, mothers provided information to help them make choices on their own, suggesting differences in how mothers and siblings interpreted…