Noting that the growing concern among parents about the quality of their children's elementary science and mathematics education--reinforced by media reports on various educational controversies--contributes to a lack of understanding between teachers and parents, this book provides three parent education workshops designed to bridge the gap. The…

This brief highlights some of the reasons that low motivation may prevent students from reaching their full educational potential. It begins with a discussion of some of the factors that contribute to this problem, including lack of relevance, fear of failure, learning problems, lack of challenge, and emotional distress. Most of the brief is…

Instructors at two-year community colleges are faced with the challenge of helping students learn content knowledge and skills in an abbreviated period of time. In particular, developing students' critical thinking skills is an essential task. This paper reports on a study in which students in a Human Anatomy and Physiology class at a community…

This packet contains three papers from a symposium on feedback systems held at a conference on human resource development (HRD). The first paper, "The Role of Feedback in Management Development Training" (K. Peter Kuchinke), reports on a survey-based study that investigated the role of feedback in nine management development training…

This document contains four symposium papers on contextual learning issues. "Learning to Learn Strategies of Successful Real Estate Professionals: Implications for Learning in the Workplace" (Margot B. Weinstein) describes a multicase study in which a model called the Individual Learning System was used to identify the strategies and…

Improved computer technology presents philosophers with the means to enhance their applied ethics classes by providing the opportunity to explore myriad practical and conceptual problems heretofore impossible in the traditional classroom. This paper examines some of the potential and problems inherent in using computerized techniques in Southeast…

This paper reports the results of a 3-year study of children's use of computers in their homes and examines the implications of such use for educators. Subjects were over 400 children between ages 5 and 12 who came from a variety of social, economic, and cultural backgrounds in urban Sydney (Australia). The study aimed to develop knowledge and…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of learners of Japanese as a second language from non-kanji backgrounds and the special difficulties they encounter in trying to learn the kanji writing system. It is asserted that most teachers of Japanese as a second language do not spend enough time on kanji teaching, with the students typically forced to…

This article describes a variety of ways learners can help themselves remember new words, choosing the ones that best suit their learning styles. It is asserted that repeated exposure to new lexical items using a variety of means is the most consistent predictor of retention. The use of verbal, visual, tactile, textual, kinesthetic, and sonic…

This 37-minute videotape recording demonstrates selected interventions to assist infants and toddlers with multiple disabilities, including vision and hearing loss, in developing early communication and other skills. Emphasizing the critical importance of early intervention, the video is designed to help service providers and families create…

This document is a final report on a two-year study involving nine community colleges, four disciplines and two special programs, 49 faculty, and 2,381 students in an exploration of the relationship between developmental courses and computer-based instruction. The report begins with an introduction, a description of students needing developmental…

Relates teaching experiences and problems encountered in trying to improve students' motivation with a variety of teaching methods and classroom techniques. Concludes that the social function of language provides the highest motivation for most, but advocates different approaches to teaching in response to different students' needs and learning…

Provides evidence that benefits occur when friends, compared with nonfriends, are coworkers on cognitive tasks. Notes meta-analysis which found superior performance was demonstrated in the areas of seeking scarce resources, problem solving, creative activity, and reaching consensus. Argues teachers should consider giving students the opportunity…

Describes the application of the Piaget-based learning cycle technique for teaching an introductory organic chemistry course. Explains the step-by-step process used to convert a lecture course into a discussion-based active learning course. A learning cycle provides students with concrete material and aids them in understanding abstract concepts…

Maintains that adult students have distinctive learning characteristics. Briefly discusses these characteristics, their relationship to learning the musical keyboard, and pedagogical approaches that accommodate these characteristics. Interviews several teachers and recounts their specific techniques. A selected resources list includes methods and…