This paper describes the application and development of the work discussion method within educational settings. In the first section of the paper, I outline some key contextual factors that are important to consider when setting up work discussion groups within schools. A number of case examples are then described, illustrating a range of central…

By viewing standardized reading tests as a unique genre that could be taught, the author designed a two-week genre study for her reading workshop. The article describes how she planned, taught, and reflected on the unit. This genre study resolved some of the dilemmas she faced around preparing students for mandated testing. (Contains 1 table and 2…

This paper proposes a matrix structure for training Supply Chain Management (SCM) professionals. It is an innovative programme structure that combines two approaches: cross-border and inter-organisational. It enables the students to comprehend complex and specific business environments and to understand the diverse nature of SCM systems in both…

The results of the study reported in this article found that primary-aged students used context knowledge in three broad ways: (1) to rationalise the data or their interpretations; (2) in taking a critical stance toward the data; and (3) in ways that were not necessarily productive or pertinent in addressing the task at hand. When teaching…

The paper reviews studies on performance objectives, task analysis, and prompting and instruction sequences as they relate to the education of handicapped students. The initial section, on performance objectives, reviews the development of the Vocational Behavior Checklist and the Subsequent Independent Living Behavior Checklist. The next step in…

A theory of the planning and debugging of computer programs is formalized as a context free grammar, which is used to reveal the constituent structure of problem solving episodes by parsing protocols in which programs are written, tested, and debugged. This is illustrated by the detailed analysis of an actual session with a beginning student…

A framework for analyzing the social organization of education in nonclassroom environments is developed, based on observations of students in an experiential learning program. The argument is made that the process of education must be understood by the effect of the broader social context in which it occurs. (Author/SK)

A profoundly retarded adult was taught to open doors having a standard rotary door knob through prompting and fading techniques in a backward chaining sequence. (CL)

The article presents three case studies in which severely handicapped adolescents were taught the use of a frisbee, how to operate a cassette tape recorder, and electronic bowling skills. (DB)

Discusses the method used for rewriting a piece of technical text to improve readability, compares several readability measures of the revised text, and notes difficulties encountered in the study. (CHC)

Examined the influence of working memory on the off-line and real-time sentence comprehension/ processing of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Twelve children with SLI, 12 normally developing children matched for chronological age (CA), and 12 children matched for receptive syntax completed three tasks. Suggests that SLI children…

Discusses the use of applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA) to interview novices and gain insight into their cognitive skills and processes. Focuses particularly on novice Internet searchers at the University of Staffordshire (United Kingdom) and reviews attempts to modify ACTA, which is intended to gather information from experts as part of…

Describes task-based learning (TBL), a study module for fourth-year medical students (n=85), and experiences with implementing it at the University of Tampere in Finland. Indicates that this method works and that it leads to learning. Students evaluate their skills connected with a general practitioner's work in health center hospitals as better…

Teachers who design meaningful and developmentally appropriate tasks will motivate their students to engage in the content and as students work through the Big6 process, interacting with the content, they learn and practice information and technology skills. A valuable task definition technique is to develop questions that students in each group…

We report an investigation of 9-year-olds' ability to interpret idioms in relation to their reading comprehension level. We manipulated whether the idioms were transparent or opaque, whether they were real or novel, whether they were presented in isolation or in a supportive narrative context. As predicted, children were better able to explain the…