Undergraduate students tend to struggle with probability in their introductory statistics course. Probability problem solving requires several steps. First, students must make sense of the probability scenario, then determine the appropriate probability rules, and finally, execute the procedures to solve the problem. With no previous exposure to…

This article on word-learning strategies describes a theory- and research-based set of procedures for teaching students to use word-learning strategies--word parts, context clues, the dictionary, and a combined strategy--to infer the meanings of unknown words. The article begins with a rationale for teaching word-learning strategies, particularly…

Essay exams offer many benefits for instructors who seek to vary their assessment methods and engage students in critical discourse, yet they also pose many challenges and require thoughtful construction and evaluation. The author provides an extensive overview of the literature to illuminate best practices for designing and assessing effective…

Self-management is an effective, well-researched set of strategies for increasing, decreasing, and maintaining one's own behavior. Self-management strategies have been shown to be effective in supporting students with disabilities, with the ultimate outcome of greater independence. Self-prompting, an important step in self-management, has become…

Undergraduate student enrollment in online courses has steadily increased over the years and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The need for instructors to utilize best practices in online instruction and course design is crucial. This article presents strategies for online instructors to promote student use of self-regulated…

The goal of prompting a child is to prevent him or her from making errors while learning a new skill, and to decrease the amount of time it takes to learn the new skill. As a child shows improvement in performing the skill, adults can fade the amount of assistance provided until the child reaches his or her level of independence. Several prompting…

Writing-to-learn (WTL) is an effective instructional and learning strategy that centers on the process of organizing and articulating ideas, as opposed to writing-to-communicate, which centers on the finished written product. We describe a WTL model that we have developed and tested with various student groups over several years. With effective…

The Hint Factory is an implementation of our novel method to automatically generate hints using past student data for a logic tutor. One disadvantage of the Hint Factory is the time needed to gather enough data on new problems in order to provide hints. In this paper we describe the use of expert sample solutions to "seed" the hint generation…

The effectiveness of computer-based learning environments depends on learners' deployment of metacognitive and self-regulatory processes. Analysis of transmitted messages in a context of Computer Mediated Communication can provide a source of information on metacognitive activity. However, existing models or frameworks (e.g., Henri, 1992) that…

Writers carefully include critical information in the opening lines of their chapters, but students often gloss over these beginning sentences, missing information that could help them better comprehend the text. To address this concern, the authors created a strategy that prompts students to examine the opening lines of chapters, helping readers…

This paper discusses the findings of a collective case study of two junior colleges in Singapore. It aims to identify and describe the scaffolding strategies used by teachers to engage students in computer-mediated lessons. For students to engage in the learning process, they need to be equipped with the learning strategies and see the relevance…

This report discusses a study that examined the perceived credibility of children with learning disabilities once they received instruction in a procedure to increase recall during narrative testimony. Narrative Elaboration Training (NET) helps children to develop memory skills by teaching strategies for remembering the details that are expected…

Separately examines the effectiveness of each of the elements of the pause, prompt, praise technique (the elements are usually part of a three-part process). The tutoring technique is used to help slow learners with their reading. Praise was found to be the most significant factor in improvement. (MJP)

Research is only beginning to show the benefits of the effective use of manipulatives with students who have disabilities. This article highlights how teachers can incorporate three manipulative instructional strategies to help students with high-incidence disabilities.

This paper describes the development and use of language training procedures, referred to as cues-pause-point procedures, that rely on behavioral principles and simple and natural teaching procedures and that are exhibited in many normal parent-child or teacher-student verbal interactions. The procedures have been effective in teaching severely…