The Essential Skills Team knows that each student has a unique learning style, home and school environment, academic and personal strengths and experiences, and family backgrounds. One of the goals when creating the Essential Skills Campus was to provide resources that harness the strengths and experiences students bring with them to their first…

"Teaching Kids to Change the World: Lessons to Inspire Social Responsibility for Grades 6-12," by Jennifer Griffin-Wiesner and Chris Maser, is a practical guide that provides educators with the essential tools to inspire young people to change the world for the better. Focusing on eight principles of change, it includes lessons, examples and…

This book offers teachers a toolbox for discovering the innate strengths and talents and the unique learning styles of each student. Drawing from Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences, the book offers more than a dozen activities specifically tailored to each of the eight multiple intelligences: verbal/linguistic, mathematical/logical,…

Introduces the Reading-Is-The-Answer (RITA) method which teaches students to read while considering their learning styles. Recommends using technology combined with RITA for older students. (YDS)

The "impulsive responder" is a learner who avoids or eliminates confusing situations. Rather than acknowledging that a given problem solving task is too difficult, the impulsive responder simply perceives a different task--one that he or she has learned to solve. For the teacher there may be many different problems, but for the impulsive…

There has been much discussion recently of the effect that gender and learning style have on student performance. Educators have attempted to develop new teaching and assessment strategies that accommodate a variety of learning styles, and both males and females are becoming more aware of gender-related traits and their relationship to classroom…

Describes a method of teaching problem-solving to engineering undergraduates at Coventry (Lancaster) Polytechnic. The teaching model, which consists of a series of component activities, employs a methodological approach to problem-solving in the area of engineering design. Applications of the model to other forms of problem-solving are briefly…

Asserts that the sudden insights that characterize intuitive thinking are as important in effectuating learning as analytical thinking. Claims that intuitive thinking enables students to comprehend complex relationships better, to put things into better perspective, to generate new ideas, and to perceive more ways to integrate facts, concepts, and…

Describes a project based on the book "Roxaboxen" by Alice McLerran for a multiage summer program at the Loudon Country Day School (Virginia) where children create an imaginary town. Discusses benefits of the project, including connecting children with books, illuminating the importance of play, use of imagination, and suitability for various…

Offers five suggestions to help students assess the reasonableness of their answers: (1) giving students a variety of problems; (2) facilitating students' discussions and interpretations of the problem conditions; (3) encouraging students to estimate answers before carrying out calculations; (4) encouraging students to ask whether their answers…

Discusses definitions of problem solving, sources of real problems, selection of data for use in problems, developing strategies for solving, and deciding when solutions are acceptable. (MKR)

Describes an activity that was adapted from the Chemical Industry Education Center (CIEC) materials for use with special-needs students. The activity, "Transporting Chocolate," addresses a real-world problem and makes use of multisensory contexts to maximize the student's capabilities while minimizing limitations. (WRM)

Introduces a study that identifies which learning styles are prevalent in biology majors. Uses the findings of the study to design a microbiology course. Presents activities that address the different learning styles. Uses self-assessment and portfolios for student evaluation. Includes recommendations for instructional improvement. (Contains 19…

Describes how teachers can use likeness statements (analogies, metaphors, and similes) as a means for helping students understand musical concepts during rehearsals. Explains that likeness statements encourage problem solving and address the needs of different kinds of learners. Stresses the importance of using likeness statements that are…

Presents illustrated examples that promote problem solving through the student's consideration of a visible predicament from a three-dimensional viewpoint rather than the typical planar perspective. Includes six student exercises involving rays, circles, quadrilaterals, and hexagons, with hints and solutions provided. (JJK)