Increased attention in organizational theory on how to improve the design of a learning organization has indicated a need for the development of a theory on how employees learn in, and in relation to, organizations. This paper focuses on the part of the learning process that deals with how learners understand the object at hand, in this case,…

The instructional theory presented in this document provides an explanation and context for making instructional decisions. The theory's purpose is to facilitate continual inquiry in the real world of teaching; to facilitate the decision making role of teachers and researchers; and to enable teachers and scholars more clearly to describe and…

This paper demonstrates a method for constructing long variables using items that elicit partically correct responses across ages. Long variables may be defined by students at different ages (year levels) attempting common items within a test containing other items considered to be appropriate for each age or year level. A developmental model of…

A discussion of classroom teaching addresses two questions about how teachers learn to teach: (1) What do teachers know and how do they use that knowledge to do what they do in the classroom?; and (2) How do teachers learn what they know? In response to the first question, it is proposed that teaching can be seen from three basic perspectives: as…

The personal journal is a combination of class notebook and diary, a repository of entries which are recorded on a regular basis, are ungraded, and which remain confidential. As an instructional tool, the journal is virtually limitless. Studies have demonstrated the practical applications of journal writing for educators in the following areas:…

A conceptual framework is presented for studying the processes of metacognitive regulation involved in complex learning activities such as text composition. A method is demonstrated for analyzing text transformations as a means of making inferences about underlying processes of regulation. Data are from a study of four female sixth graders in…

The essence of the computer revolution is yet to come, for computers are essentially generators of realities. Virtual reality (VR) is the next step in the evolutionary path; the user is placed inside the image and becomes a participant within the computational space. A VR computer generates a direct experience of the computational environment. The…

This paper offers a different perspective for teaching and learning--the "thoughtful" perspective--as an alternative to the current technocratic perspective. The technocratic frame of reference implicitly proposes that any problem is amenable to programmatic definition and solution. The following three propositions are presented: one's perspective…

Research and theory on language acquisition and language socialization are examined and compared. The language acquisition perspective is that the central question is how children acquire forms and patterns of language, with syntax at the core, so early and so rapidly. From the viewpoint of language socialization, the issue is not only of…

This Digest discusses Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a method developed by H.S. Barrows (1986), and originally created to prepare medical students for real-world problems by letting them solve medical problems based on real cases. The Digest contends that PBL can situate language learning in the real world by posing problems like those found in…

A student's participation on two listserves added new depth and new complexities to her overall learning process. The listserves (one just for her composition class at California State University San Bernardino and one that linked her class to two other composition classes at distant universities) created a community of people who had access to a…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary examination of the efficacy of two teaching methodologies: traditional lecture versus cooperative learning. A sample of 50 students was taken from a mid-size, southern, metropolitan university. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: 27 who learned course material via the traditional lecture…

This report examines the importance of learning communities within institutions of higher education. It identifies two important dimensions of learning communities: (1) primary membership, which differentiates based on the characteristic that group members hold in common; these include learning organizations, faculty learning communities, and…

This study examined the effects of instruction versus no instruction of comprehension monitoring strategies on the metacognitive awareness and reading achievement of third and fifth grade students. The study also examined the effects of direct instruction of a written or checksheet comprehension monitoring strategy on the metacognitive awareness…

Alternative conceptions of classroom learning are explored in this paper, with a focus on challenging current assumptions about learning, teaching, and creating conditions to improve schools. The constructivist view is offered as a different approach to the behaviorist concept of learning and the metaphor of the classroom as a workplace. From a…