Uses different learning models to provide the conceptual framework for three interventions that illustrate methods for designing effective learning environments at the macroinstitutional and microinstitutional levels. (Author)

Undergraduates enrolled in a field video production class at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington completed a low ropes challenge course as a team-building activity. Found that the ropes course contributed to group processes and getting students to trust one another, although its contribution to building intragroup cohesiveness was…

Discusses a university/school partnership to integrate walks into the curriculum of a kindergarten and a fourth- grade classroom in order to enrich student learning. Notes the role of the partnership in curriculum development, the opportunity for teachers to put theory into practice, and the benefits for students and teachers. (JPB)

Identifies and describes children's in-action mental model of their own learning, which was inferred from the observation of children's behaviors when learning a song. Explains that the mental model is made up of musical organizations and learning strategies, each on two levels, large-scale and detailed. (CMK)

Highlights an activity from an introductory psychology class in which students applied concepts learned in the course toward learning a new skill (juggling). Explains the procedure and discusses the activity evaluation. Provides suggestions for improvement. (CMK)

Nontraditional students must negotiate a series of stages in accessing higher education, including their right to participate, attitudes, and approaches to theory-practice. Universities must realize that access for nontraditional students includes providing sustained support in relation to internal and external forces affecting learning. (SK)

Questions introductory courses' ability to truly teach students about science. Explains teaching difficulties caused by students' approach to science. Aims to convince science teachers to use case studies which help students evaluate arguments critically. First published in 1986. (YDS)

Investigates the effects of four structural characteristics of instruction on student learning: (1) authenticity; (2) challenge; (3) demand for skills; and (4) allowance for student autonomy. Shows that high quality learning experiences are authentic, allow choice, and demand student skills. States that a boring and alienated experience results…

Examines the discussion of a constructivist consideration of learning for its capacity to limit the position of educational instruction by a new perspective on the subject. Offers a learning theory that understands learning as a subjective activity in the context of society. (CMK)

Explores the language used when teaching mathematics to young British children. Considers two aspects of children's learning: (1) understanding a concept being introduced; and (2) learning the appropriate word for the concept. Reports on part of a research project studying 5-year-old children as they acquire new mathematical concepts. (CMK)

Discusses children's musical intuitions and two methods of meaning construction, pathmaking and mapmaking. Traces the work of one child who builds the tune Hot Cross Buns with Montessori bells and explains in detail the development. Considers educational implications. (CMK)

Presents three examples of the beginnings of togetherness among young peers, ages 1-3 years. Considers psychological processes underlying their activities and the characteristics of the settings in which these activities occur. Discusses these examples in the context of a definition of the social interactive dimension of learning, and the…

Questions the narrow definition of learning used in lifelong learning discourses. Uses evidence from a study of patterns of participation in adult learning in South Wales from 1900 to argue that if informal learning continues to be ignored, the result may be an exclusiveness in defining a learning society. (CMK)

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether there is a support for and evidence of social justice content or activities planned as learning experiences at one Catholic school, the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio, Texas. The first section of this paper summarizes the 1998 Bishops study that concludes that there is a…

Since NCATE requires teacher preparation programs to integrate technology, this article begins the dialogue for sharing start-up strategies. This article shows how one program (Adelphi University) has integrated digital video assignments into the teacher preparation program. It is hoped that this will spur interest and effort from other teacher…