Parent and community concerns in the authors' recent study were organized into seven themes: anonymity, rigor and challenge, safety, sociability and civility, school responsiveness, instruction methods, and information accessibility. Middle schools should hold dialogs with the community, stop rationalizing, acknowledge weak achievement areas,…

Shares findings from past and current research into Down syndrome and makes suggestions for future research. The contributions of medical, genetic, and psychological research are reviewed, along with findings relating to the neuropathology of Down syndrome, prenatal screening for Down syndrome, life expectancy, and obstacles to learning. (CR)

Explores episodes of classroom interaction in which there is unplanned attention to form. Data consist of periodic recordings of learners in intensive English classes over a period of 8 weeks. Analysis of data points to a strong connection between attention to form and subsequent use of those forms and indicates that this connection is affected by…

Interviewed 12 computer studies faculty in Hong Kong about their perspectives on teaching computer programming; organized data into themes. Concluded that teachers rely on a "mind as container" understanding of knowledge and learning that would be better replaced with a connectionist view of the mind. (EV)

Argues that although Gardner's conception of human cognition, characterized by a set of multiple and distinct cognitive capabilities, is an advance over the narrow conception of IQ, it runs into fundamental difficulties of a methodological kind and is based on a discredited empiricist theory of knowledge which work with artificial neural networks…

Replies to "The Theory of Multiple Intelligences: A Case of Missing Cognitive Matter," also in this issue. Disagrees about the role theory of knowledge plays in the context of justification of multiple intelligences. Specifically, asserts that the article's criticisms based on philosophy of science claims and work with artificial neural…

Describes an experiment that looked at how adult learners made use of their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI[R]), a personality assessment tool, type to cope with the challenges of learning in an online environment. Presents results of the experiment, and draws tentative conclusions. Provides notes related to the four psychological dimensions of…

Proposes the use of a genogram in counseling to provide a visual tool that stimulates insight and awareness in clients. Discusses how college counseling clients struggle with many developmental, relationship, and systemic issues. Suggests that genograms, which have been proven beneficial in other settings, may also facilitate college counseling.…

Provides an annotated bibliography of print and Web resources concerning online learning. Topics include brain and learning research, distance learning research and practice, traditional higher education research and practice, theory and practice on designing and delivering degrees and courses, and Internet and technology research and monitoring.…

Discusses second language acquisition and the use of multimedia that allows learners to be actively engaged in the language learning process, based on experiences at an Australian university teaching Chinese to English and Japanese students. Considers the phonological level, the semantic level, the syntactic level, and the discourse level. (LRW)

Responds to attacks from a number of educationists who claim that the concept of cultural transmission is unable to cover adequately the complex process of interaction that takes place in education. Attempts to defend cultural transmission against the three main criticisms that have been leveled against it, and concludes that it remains a valuable…

Derives a time-denominated learning cost curve from an economic model of programmed instruction and uses experimental data to identify it for each learner. This portrayal suggests that equalizing the time allowed to learn, as in conventional group instruction, distributes learning outcomes and human capital unevenly. The distribution of education…

Children's natural propensity for wonder is important to learning. Educators play a vital role in keeping that sense of wonder alive; educators must not merely supply explanations, but must move young children toward solving their own problems through active exploration, discovery, and reflection--processes that are pertinent to our responses in…

A research project using an instrument designed to allow teachers to investigate their students' ideas about learning found that the ideas of 193 English and Finnish adolescents about learning were varied, without clear understanding of how they learned. Finnish students seemed to depend more on their teachers than did English students. (SLD)

A theory of how people detect and correct their own performance errors during skill practice is proposed. Blame assignment, error attribution, and knowledge revision are identified as three cognitive functions in explaining error correction. The theory is embodied in a computer model that learns cognitive skills in ecologically valid domains. (SLD)