The handbook is a service publication for teachers of French as a second language. Each of five articles addresses a specific issue. "Teaching and Learning Strategies" (Walter A. Lazaruk) reviews the four skills approach used in second language learning. A communication model of teaching, used alongside study of the language itself, is…

Online classes appear increasingly popular, making it critical in each discipline to study the advantages and disadvantages of learning online. Following up on anecdotal impressions that scientific/technical writing students appeared to do either better or worse in an online course than an offline equivalent (unpublished data), it was decided to…

A recent study proposed a rational for investigating the effects of mediating tasks upon a summary writing activity for tertiary-level students using English as an educational medium. The tasks in this study involved a group discussion or a reading comprehension exercise, with a third condition providing for immediate access to the text and…

Part of a larger research project, this longitudinal study analyzed differences between effective and ineffective high school and college language learners and changes in strategy uses over time. Related studies include a descriptive study, which identified learning strategies used in studying foreign languages, and a course development study, in…

The range and characteristics of learning strategies used in studying foreign languages were studied in a 3-year project involving 67 high school students of Spanish and 34 college students of Russian. This final report reviews second language acquisition theory and learning strategies, research in learning strategies, and a cognitive model of…

The study styles employed by a sample of Finnish university students were investigated. In the first study phase, 238 students described general study styles/approaches, using a questionnaire developed by Entwistle, which included 30 Likert-type items from the following dimensions: achievement orientation, reproducing orientation, meaning…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of implementing cooperative learning and objectives with computer-based instruction (CBI). Subjects were 125 fifth and sixth grade students. Cooperative dyads and individuals worked through a CBI earth science program that contained either instructional objectives, advance organizers, or no…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two generative learning strategies, concept maps and manipulation of objects, and to determine if either works better with individual learners or in cooperative learning groups. A total of 80 sixth-grade students in science education were randomly assigned to group or individual…

Investigates the real-time costs of sentence processing in early Spanish-English bilinguals. Bilinguals use an amalgam of monolingual strategies in choosing the agent of a sentence. The reaction time data reveal a larger language-specific component than the choice data. (37 references) (Author/CK)

Compares models of the classroom dynamics for a traditional laboratory setting and a problem-solving-centered environment, both at the eighth grade science level. Descriptive data indicate no differences in the models, whereas path analyses suggest that, in the problem-solving model, student behaviors significantly correlate to lesson structure,…

Reports findings of two experiments examining perceived differences among teaching styles and identifying subjects' perceptions of their own teaching styles. Teaching styles were rated by 188 elementary education students and 99 music students using transcripts from audiotape recordings of music classroom sessions. Found feedback more effective…

Primary school learners' first encounters with mathematics in a traditional learning environment often create lifelong "math phobia."(Papert 1980) The situation in a country emerging from an oppressive education system designed to educationally disempower the majority of the population is much worse. The typical scenario in a previously…

A study examined the strategies and processes used by a sample of 33 Argentinean adults with little school experience to solve problems and acquire knowledge at work. A Piagetian methodological approach was used to observe adults in building, rural, and domestic work settings and to analyze empirical data regarding their behavior in task-oriented…

This research explored the thesis that mental model construction can be an effective instructional strategy for mental models learning by constructing a prototype that embodies this approach. The mental model to be learned was the Internet, including the components of the Internet, their functions, and their relationships to one another. To do…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…