Explains that although society views gifted students as not in need of special assistance, these students do experience difficulties, many of them become droputs, and require extra help. Offers 10 broad proposals, such as placing more emphasis on talent development, for reaching out to at-risk talented students. (MKA)

Reports on a two-year project in a biology course for nonmajors in which lectures were replaced with guided learning activities and weekly exams designed to help students gain the confidence to be independent learners, especially in science, assume responsibility for their own learning, improve study skills, and make more effective use of class…

Discusses how to extract relevant information as part of the Big6 process of teaching information problem-solving. Highlights include extracting information from print sources compared to computer-based information resources; identifying relevant information; and extracting information from other multimedia sources such as interviews, audio…

Studies student response to a developmental reading strategies course, in which students learned specific reading and study strategies with each chapter. Student questionnaires and follow-up phone calls indicated that students did use some of the strategies taught, but only the most basic. (AS)

A study compared the accuracy of experienced staff with a learning test in predicting the ability of 18 persons with mental retardation to learn 12 training tasks. Results found the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities test was more accurate for predicting client performance than the assessments of experienced staff. (Author/CR)

Provides specific techniques and tools to help students improve their self-assessment skills based on the evaluation component of the Big6 information problem-solving process. Highlights include an "Ask & Answer" sheet, formative assessment, group participation assessment, and scoring guides. (LRW)

Examined association between understanding of psychological causation and ability of young children from low-income families to produce goal-based episodes in narratives. Participants "read" book and resulting narrative was coded for psychological causation and goal-based episodes. Use of psychological causation was related to age and…

Discusses the need to accurately assess a student's progress in mastering classroom-taught skills and to understand the skills that employers expect of students in the workplace. Presents the Inventory for Assessing the Job Readiness Skills of Students Placed in Alternative Classes, and describes steps for completing the inventory. (CR)

A study investigated the effects of a neurobehavioral motor intervention on intentional communication development of four children (ages 1 to 3) with neuromotor impairments. Related communication skills linked to motor targets were observed. All subjects increased the use of communication behaviors following implementation of the motor-skill…

Relates Carol Gilligan's two perspectives on moral reasoning (care and justice) to discussions in service learning circles concerning the relationship between charity and social change as orientations of service and service-learning and to the nature of "self." The discussion informs the questions of what constitutes "mature"…

Reports on the quantitative findings from a survey of Cornell University undergraduates and on qualitative findings from a prior focus group that investigated computer literacy and the most effective methods to learn computer-literacy skills. Implications for supporting student computing needs are discussed. (LRW)

A survey completed by 69 special educators examined their perceptions of the benefits of self-determination for individuals with disabilities, the characteristics associated with self-determination, and the strategies used to achieve it. Results indicated strong support for self-determination instruction. However, few teachers included…

Proposes the use of simulations to develop oral-language skills in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom. Simulations allow students to interact in meaningful and realistic contexts and generate their own discourse. (Author/VWL)

Research-based learning (RBL) is a model for merging research and undergraduate education. To link RBL with a curriculum across the institution, the authors used discipline-specific RBL strands, each of which is a set of interconnected course options that couple out-of-class research experiences with an established curriculum. Student learning is…

Explains the Core Skills framework which emerged as part of the Higher Still Development Programme in Scotland at the same time as similar developments of Key Skills in the rest of the United Kingdom. Describes the unique aspects of the Scottish program. (WRM)