Reports four experiments that examined four-year olds' ability to coordinate orthogonal spatial dimensions. Found that performance was particularly good when two imagined lines of sight were the dimensions to be coordinated. Results support the notion that young children perform better when tasks are set in a meaningful context. (MM)

Draws on evolutionary biology to provide implications for the case study method, to promote a better understanding of contingency, and to confirm the status of case study. Argues that contingency unites the details that make the case portray part of a greater category and that make it a unique instance. (DSK)

Describes experiences during the field-testing and development of the Mathematics in Context (MiC) project from the developer and classroom teacher points of view. (ASK)

For analytic purposes, contends that, in principle, culture is an unapparent and functionally unimportant element of routine everyday interactions. It is when persons, relationships, and episodes are evaluated by the participants or others in the community, and what the participants opt to say, or not say, that we come face-to-face with culture.…

Explores the influence of reading comprehension on the acquisition of word meanings from context and compares it to the effects of local context characteristics, such as proximity and directness of context clues. Indicates that reading-comprehension level and prior main-concept knowledge facilitate vocabulary learning from context. (DSK)

Presents a study in which 78 students reported on their awareness of gender and race. Indicates an increased awareness in public settings and with athletic involvement. Reveals racial awareness increased for white and non-white participants when in the racial minority and majority, respectively; while in gender minority, awareness rose for all…

Discusses preliminary observations on the notion of "tension" as an inevitable agent of developmental change and to show that at the source of tension are constraints of epistemological, semiotic, learning, and environmental nature. Focuses on four constraints that exert inevitable and pedagogically fruitful tension on classroom teaching.…

Presents a conceptualization of social skills with an emphasis on natural contexts within which children are expected to function. Offers a definition of social skills whereby important considerations of social contexts are emphasized. Emphasizes assessment procedures that address both environmentally relevant and child-specific behaviors, and…

Six experiments involving a total of 112 college students demonstrate that a robust memory for visual context exists to guide spatial attention. Results show how implicit learning and memory of visual context can guide spatial attention toward task-relevant aspects of a scene. (SLD)

This study investigated the effects of contextualization on fluency in 35 school-age children with either stuttering, language impairment, or normal fluency. Analysis of the children's discourse samples, half of which were produced with contextual cues, found stutterers demonstrated a significant reduction in frequency of stuttering in the…

Interviewed 10 (British) secondary headteachers to examine headship approaches among those appointed during the past 3 years. Numerous contextual factors impinge on new principals: current events, devolved management, catchmment area, management courses, staff affect and attitudes, and planned rate and style of managed change. (Contains 25…

Discusses the integration of knowledge management into business applications. Topics include the difference between knowledge and information; performance-centered design (PCD); applying knowledge to support business outcomes, including context, experience, and information quality; techniques for merging PCD and knowledge management, including…

Investigated hypothesis that individuals evaluate self-worth differently across relational contexts while holding perceptions of global self-worth. Found that adolescents' self-worth perceptions varied across contexts. Support in a given context was more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in other…

Presents two case studies of higher education institutions undergoing change to illustrate how institutional culture affects the change process. Introduces the mobile model of change that guides transformation efforts in urban institutions while remaining sensitive to their institutional context and culture. The framework is based on a five-year…

During the 1980s, homeless people formed social movement organizations and mobilized collective action events in cities across the US. From the vantage point of social movement theories and scholarship on homelessness, it is surprising that homeless protest was so prevalent in the 1980s. Yet we find evidence of homeless protest events across no…