An instructional module designed to help prepare college-level teaching assistants (TAs) for their duties in second language instruction is presented. The module focuses on how learning strategies can help students become better language learners, and on methods for sharing the secrets of good language learning with students. Less effective…

The purpose of this study was to compare in greater depth the qualitative differences between what previous researchers have called a deep versus surface approach to learning science. Six grade 8 students judged as typical using a deep or surface approach were videotaped or audiotaped during class group laboratory activities in a chemistry unit.…

In this contributed collection, 23 teachers explain their successful strategies for teaching the social studies disciplines in a whole language context. The collection covers contemporary subjects, traditional topics, well-known projects, social studies in the community, and multicultural matters. It can be used at elementary through middle and…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the roles of interest, knowledge, and learning strategies on recall within a specific subject domain at an early stage of learning. Students (n=17) at two levels in a postgraduate music therapy course were assessed for their levels of prior knowledge, interest, and the number of strategies they used to…

The underlying factor structure of the Language Learning Strategy Scale (LLSS) (Y. Chen, 2001) was examined to determine its consistency across 2 distinct cultures. Variables that affected students' language learning were also identified. The validation study for the LLSS suggested a three-factor model of functional strategies, deep-processing…

Following up on data compiled in a report issued two years previously, this article discusses the outcomes of a gifted program for children ages 13-14 in Torokszentmiklos, Hungary. It begins by describing the aim of the program and its main content elements. The program was designed to make learning methods and strategies of pupils effective, and…

Roger Schank's ideas regarding the abandonment of classrooms as the central learning environment and changing the delivery of education are examined. Schank believes today's learning cycles should be divided equally between working at a computer, talking with others, and making something--none of which requires a formal classroom. Emphasis is…

In 1995, Cerritos College implemented a "Learning Community" approach with the intent of strengthening student academic success, especially among non-traditional, first generation college students. Thirty Learning Community clusters, seventy classes/instructors, and over four hundred students have been part of the learning communities…

The academic performance and learning strategy use of students in a freshman history course at a large southeastern U.S. regional university is the focus of this study. One group of students was comprised of first-term, at-risk students who were jointly enrolled in a learning support reading course and the freshman history course. The second group…

A research project implemented a program to increase skills in critiquing art at the elementary level. The targeted population consisted of students in fifth grade in a lower-to-middle-class community located in western Illinois. Evidence used to support the problem's existence included the local visual art assessment test, teacher observations,…

This paper is a critical analysis of the role of the Tanzanian education system in enhancing young children's awareness of economic aspects around them. The major factors the paper considers are: the poverty of the country; the prominence of the education system as a socializing agent for children; the aim of early education in Tanzania; and young…

This book shows how to use popular children's literature to build reading, writing, and cognitive skills in an inquiry-based environment. This third edition has been expanded to include first and second grades. New features include: (1) new emphasis on culturally diverse storybooks; (2) a description of the experiential learning inquiry process;…

This paper examines differences between beginning and experienced art teachers' perceptions of teaching and learning. The paper first discusses how experienced and novice art teachers may vary in their thinking and approaches to instructional content. It then focuses on the results of a project that investigated curriculum development and teacher…

This paper presents debates on the need to examine teacher education programs and discusses the importance and impact of mentoring on the learning outcomes of the science teacher educator (STE). The position is taken that a mentoring program for preservice teacher education should be a part of all advanced graduate programs. A lack of research on…

This study examined how learners constructed and used shared knowledge in computer-mediated and face-to-face cooperative learning, investigating how to facilitate the construction and use of shared knowledge through dynamic visualization. Forty-eight college students were separated into dyads and assigned to one of four experimental conditions…