A study investigated the reading and writing strategies used by four students in a Japanese immersion program at an Australian university. Data were gathered through classroom observation, open-ended interviews, and think-aloud protocols. Analysis revealed that the students had a limited repertoire of strategies. Their reading and writing of kanji…

Many current efforts to develop large-scale science assessments involve hands-on tasks because of their presumed power to elicit and measure scientific reasoning skills. An analysis of the processes in which students engage while responding to such assessment is needed in order to discover the specific forms of reasoning that tasks elicit. This…

To generate a useful means of analyzing think-aloud protocols of individual students, and to determine the extent to which practical information might be derived from transcripts and videotapes, this project focused on the problem-solving behaviors of 17 sixth-grade students videotaped while solving routine textbook word problems. Using a…

The experience of novice users searching SilverPlatter's ERIC CD-ROM on the Macintosh was studied. Ten students from an introductory master's level course in library and information science were recruited as volunteer subjects. Subjects were asked to complete a search on the ERIC CD-ROM; and data were collected via observations, a think-aloud…

This instructional guide, one of a series developed by the Technical Education Advancement Modules (TEAM) project, is a 16-hour introduction to plant floor operations. The guide is designed to develop the following competencies: (1) understanding the characteristics and components of personal computer (PC) networks; (2) computer networking…

In a study to evaluate an approach for improving the critical thinking skills of middle school science students, 60 students were given the assignment of completing three guided laboratory activities and writing a report for each. In writing their reports, students were expected to identify the manipulated variable, identify the responding…

Concludes that the nature of the writing tasks assigned to students will emphasize some aspects of the curriculum and de-emphasize others. (NKA)

This second volume of "Proving and Improving" collects essays from the First-Year Assessment Listserv, which is hosted by the Policy Center on the First Year of College and the National Resource Center. Like the first volume, this one brings together the nation's leading experts and practitioners of assessment in the first college year.…

A study in college-level English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction investigated (1) whether or not there is any relationship between the strategic use of explicit grammar knowledge, including metalinguistic concepts, in an attempt to recognize error, and the actual correction of error and success in academic ESL; (2) whether or not certain…

How people evaluate primary and secondary sources when considering historical questions was studied by asking eight historians and eight high school seniors to think aloud while reviewing written and pictorial documents about the Battle of Lexington. Differences between the groups are discussed concerning cognitive processes and beliefs about…

Which pedagogical processes and practices that target the recognition, value and sharing of world views in teaching and learning can be identified as strategies for learning to live together in an Australian multicultural classroom? The question is addressed by this paper, which presents two discrete but complementary pedagogical models that…

The study described here attempted to shed light on decision-making during first language (English) and second language (French) writing processes of French immersion program graduates. It also replicated part of a previous study on the role of first language (L1) writing skills and second language (L2) competence when writing in L2. A think-aloud…

An item classification scheme developed by A. M. Gallagher (1990) was refined, resulting in a more accurate prediction of sex differences in the mathematical sections of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Differential Item Functioning (DIF) procedures for examinees scoring over 650 indicated that the majority of items favoring males required the…

Metacognitive activities were studied through the verbalizations of students during a learning process, to study the differences in the performance of good and poor students. The moment of verbalization, either at prompting marks or without prompts, and the instruction in verbalization, either directed or non-directed, were variables. Thirty-two…

Focusing on the effects of three interventions on students' reading and writing of persuasive discourse, a study investigated (1) whether the writing of persuasive discourse can be improved by instruction, and (2) the effect of reading on writing and of writing on reading within the persuasive mode. Subjects, 100 Canadian sixth graders stratified…