This study implemented contextual modifications in a preservice teacher education program to improve teaching and learning. The modifications were designed to increase students' use of deep approaches to learning and reduce their reliance on surface approaches. Because of how the teaching and learning environment was conceptualized, in accordance…

This article summarizes findings and recommendations about how to apply research on teaching and learning to classroom practice presented in "How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice." Section 1 examines existing links between learning research and education practice. Section 2 highlights the ways that people learn, noting three…

The reasons teachers give for their assessment and grading practices and the factors that influence these practices were studied. Of 200 elementary and secondary mathematics and English teachers who volunteered to participate, researchers selected 60 teachers as representing maximum variation and then interviewed 24. Interview transcripts were…

Evaluations of national prevention programs have found that they are not successful in reducing or preventing drug abuse. Local context must drive the design and development of prevention programs. Context is essential for success, and stereotypes concerning rural areas should be avoided. Local prevention efforts ought to be driven by sound…

Reviews research focusing on teacher influence on student academic outcomes. Findings on both sides of the issue are discussed; reasons for the indeterminancy of findings are specified; and relationships between presage, context, process, and product classroom variables are discussed. (RH)

As Australian teachers negotiate a curriculum in which languages other than English assume the status of key learning area, and as the impact of this development becomes more tangible, language teachers will need to embrace change. Self-directed learning will be significant within this context and self-access packages will provide students with…

Notes the increasing use of English language testing in Australia for nonlinguistic purposes in contexts governed by political pressures. Explores recent test examples and the pragmatic considerations giving rise to such test development. (28 references) (Author/CK)

Examines bias in Australian school examinations as it affects learners of languages other than English from different primary language backgrounds. Argues that the determination of whether tests are biased depends on how the test construct is defined and on whom is defining it. This issue is discussed within the context of a plan to compensate…

Explores a set of pedagogic practices in a 'progressivist' classroom as practices of covert institutional regulation. The article attempts to show how the instructional potential of the pedagogic act is subordinated to the regulative rules of the institutional context of the classroom, so that following classroom rules becomes the main focus of…

Discusses an experiment in testing college students in France on their recall of newly learned English words in order to compare the advantages and disadvantages of context and translation learning as a function of learner proficiency. Results reveal a superiority of translation learning in terms of quantity, but an inability of weaker learners to…

Discusses the relative merits of feature versus model based semantics for the interpretation of verb phrases in English, French, and German. The article concludes that the simplicity afforded by features is offset by the depth of analysis achieved with event models that are additionally able to support a sophisticated approach to machine…

Shows how a language matrix can be used to raise awareness of the role context plays in determining language choice for a given communicative function. The article suggests how the matrix can be used in language awareness and consciousness-raising activities to provide opportunities for contrastive analysis and discussion of politeness strategies…

Discusses the role connectionism plays in the development of cognitive theories and in the explanation of linguistic phenomena inherent in second language acquisition (SLA). Presents a critical look at some existing connectionist models of language functions with a focus on the need for a general cognitive model of SLA that integrates research in…

Attempts to demonstrate the linkage between opinions, attitudes, and ideologies and to look for ways of explaining variation in opinions as well as in shared social dimensions of evaluative beliefs. The article argues that theories of discourse and ideologies, as well as the cognitive aspects of ideologies, should not be reduced to any partial…

Discusses the rapid growth of digital games, describes research at MIT that is exploring the potential of digital games for supporting learning, and offers hypotheses about the design of next-generation educational video and computer games. Highlights include simulations and games; and design principles, including context and using information to…