Although neuroscience has much to offer teaching and learning conceptualizations, educators must be cautious about applying lab research to classrooms. Brain research seems hazy, confusing, and contradictory because it is new. Myths about synapses, low-stress learning, memorization, enrichment, and learning styles are debunked. (MLH)

Constructivist teachers are guided by three basic principles when teaching math to young children. They encourage students to think about their answers, conceptualize how they resolved the problem, and represent their thinking with words, pictures, or symbols. Demonstrating mathematical logic is more important than memorizing rules. (MLH)

Provides the song "Can't Get in Tune Blues" to help orchestra string students determine whether their instruments are in tune. Explains that the song teaches students the pitch relationships among strings and gives them valuable open-string bowing practice. Includes the music and one variation. (CMK)

A method designed to facilitate prediction of mechanism and products by developing critical thinking skills and reducing memorization is presented. The mechanistic disc method requiring students to utilize their understanding of charge stabilization, structural organic chemistry, and the fundamental mechanisms of aliphatic substitution and…

Memoria, one of the original five canons of rhetoric, has been described as a lost art. While "word-for-word" memorization and presentation of classic speeches was an important component of rhetorical training that "persisted through the middle ages," it receives no more than a brief mention (usually in the sections outlining different types of…

Long-term synaptic enhancement in the hippocampus has been suggested to cause deficits in spatial performance. Synaptic enhancement has been reported after hippocampal kindling that induced repeated electrographic seizures or afterdischarges (ADs) and after long-term potentiation (LTP) defined as synaptic enhancement without ADs. We studied…

The Keyword Method (KWM) of vocabulary learning is a mnemonic method designed to help students learn foreign vocabulary. It has been shown to be effective over several other memorization strategies. The present experiment was designed to explore the cognition underlying the effectiveness of the KWM. Specifically, both the degree of cognitive…

Four practical approaches taken by teachers in their attempts to help students acquire the minimum sight vocabulary necessary for reading English for Science and Technology (EST) texts are described. Over a period of 12 weeks, subjects (native Spanish speakers at university level) were divided into 4 intact groups and worked under different…

Unfortunately, many students, are failing to learn history. Fifty-seven percent of high school students scored "below basic understanding" on their knowledge of United States history. Interestingly, less than half of the students were familiar with Patrick Henry, the War of 1812, the Marshall Plan, or the Great Society. Perhaps the time…

This paper describes the mental model children have of their own learning, derived from their behaviors when learning a song. The basic assumption of the study is that behavior is an outward expression of a psychological entity. The song chosen for the study was a complex, unfamiliar Zulu song. Thirty-six children in three age groups participated…

This paper outlines several "tricks" that aid students in improving their memories. The distinctions between operational and figural thought processes are noted. Operational memory is described as something that allows adults to make generalizations about numbers and the rules by which they may be combined, thus leading to easier memorization.…

The materials in this guide focus on a variety of approaches to acquiring learning skills and applying them to eight content areas. The guide begins with a definition, an overview of learning skills, and historical background on the process of acquiring and applying learning skills. Ten learning skill competencies are defined: (1) self-evaluation,…

These lessons are designed to familiarize students with political and legal terminology through memorization and testing. Students are required to take notes on the terms and definitions given in class on 3 by 5 cards to file alphabetically at home. They are also instructed to keep a notebook of the terms to bring to class and memorize. After one…

The document presents the theoretical background and empirical research supporting lessons which teach study skills to adolescents, especially those with learning disabilities. A section presenting the psychological rationale for training study skills considers the nature of studying and its psychological demands, studying as an active process,…

Explanations for memory development have tended to focus on acquistion of general strategies and metaknowledge. Recently, emphasis has been given to the knowledge base as a whole, including general world-knowledge and domain-specific knowledge and procedures. Evidence is presented from the memory development literature showing why strategies and…