Focuses on the Big6 perspective of synthesis--organizing information from multiple sources and presenting the result. Highlights several ways to organize information and gives examples of exercises that use these two aspects of synthesis. Discusses the role of technology in synthesis and the integration of teaching software for synthesis. (AEF)

Explores the nature of a synthetic review of research. A review is "gatekeeping, policing, and productive rather than merely mirroring." A review can inform analyses of policy areas as it recognizes and fosters quality published work. The critical review can provide a basis from which new work can spring. (SLD)

The conclusion of J. Cameron and W. D. Pierce that rewards do not pose a threat to intrinsic motivation (1994) is a misrepresentation of the literature based on a flawed meta-analysis. Their analysis is more an attempt to defend behaviorist turf rather than meaningful consideration of relevant data and issues. (Author/SLD)

Guidelines are offered that make it more likely that high-quality information will be extracted and coded from primary research reports in meta-analyses. It is also noted that the methodology of meta-analysis results in pressure to change the type of information that appears in primary research reports. (SLD)

Tomorrow's "digital" classrooms will still have to develop analogal reading and thinking skills, keep kids grounded in the real world, distinguish style from substance, impart knowledge via lectures, promote linear and synthetic thinking, stress meaningful over fun-filled learning, and provide essential human contact. (MLH)

Personal interaction between health policy makers and researchers is widely seen as the key to enhancing research use, but there are also increasing demands that policies be based on syntheses of the available evidence. A potential paradox arises in that whilst interaction may result in greater use of the evidence it might also lead to a partial…

Apache Indian's spectacular performance of the identity of "Jamaican" dancehall DJ exemplifies the problematic politics of acculturation in "postcolonial" Britain. Born in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, a major centre of Caribbean and South Asian migration, this multilingual, border-crossing, urban youth appropriates…

Biodiesel was synthesized by transesterification of waste vegetable oil using common glassware and reagents, and characterized by measuring heat of combustion, cloud point, density and measuring the heat of combustion and density together allows the student the energy density of the fuel. Analyzing the biodiesel can serve as a challenging and…

Federal legislation requires that all students, including students with disabilities, be included in all state and district-level accountability systems. Many students can take the regular assessment with or without accommodations, but some students with disabilities need alternate ways to access assessments. For the past several years, states…

The purpose of this report is to document the participation and performance trends over time for students with disabilities, progressing from school year 2001-02, a base year for determining AYP goals under NCLB, through school year 2004-05, the third year that states reported after the NCLB baseline year (VanGetson & Thurlow, 2007). Within…

The concept of due process provides an analogy for the process of standard setting that emphasizes many of the procedural and substantive elements of the process over technical and statistical concerns. Surely such concerns can and should continue to be addressed. However, a sound rationale for standard setting does not rest on this foundation.…

Strengths and weaknesses of prevailing evaluation models are analyzed, with attention to the role of feedback in each paradigm. A framework is then presented for analyzing issues faced by evaluators of interactive instructional technologies. The current practice of evaluation relies heavily on 3 models developed over 20 years ago: (1) the…

Meta analytic procedures recommended by various authorities were the subject of a literature review designed not to discuss the relative merits of contrasting recommendations, but to find what is actually in the literature. The sample reviewed included 89 articles published between 1986 and 1992, from 2 journals and 2 information databases. Meta…

The literary field offers an especially rich array of examples of the insight phenomenon and demonstrates that insight experiences occur outside the problem-solving paradigm of cognitive science. Analysis shows that the seemingly unitary moment of insight is actually a microgenetic sequence (a rapid sequence of developmental change) deeply…

Focusing on synthesis--the ability to recognize and create new ideas that subsume and relate to others--as one of the most sophisticated skills writers can attain, the articles in this journal present many ideas for teaching synthesis and a number of classroom approaches that combine the study of English with other fields. The following titles and…