Launched in June 2016, the Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) provides access to the digital resources from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, 9 major research centers, and the National Zoo, to be used as real-world learning experiences. It is designed to aid students in building lasting knowledge and critical skills that take learners from simply…

The paper selects over 20 online courses and analyses the subjects, organization, the way to show the content of the courses, the use of media, and design of the teaching in the case study of Chinese popular MOOC platform. On this basis, the paper summarizes the principles of curriculum design and design models in MOOC environment, such as…

The school population in England is linguistically diverse; according to official data, over one million pupils do not speak English as their first language. All teachers are expected to support English as an additional language (EAL) development as part of their professional responsibility. At the same time, there has been little specific…

This case study analyzes five science courses of a United States virtual charter school. Online quizzes and exams are provided by the corporate partner, while local teachers have selected report topics, virtual labs and at-home labs for students to complete. These assessments were coded for their correlation to the cognitive levels of the revised…

This paper presents an overview of research on academic tasks in the classroom and describes some of the themes that are emerging from studies in this area. The concept of "academic task" is defined along with problems associated with using this theoretical construct in classroom research. Three conceptions of how content should be represented to…

Understanding the inputs to syllabus design makes for practical and relevant syllabus planning. This article summarizes an attempt to combine the concept of register in language, as a basis for selecting authentic language material, with what is known about the learner's contribution to the acquisition of the target language. (CLK)

These appendices present the protocols used in research (reported in Volume 1) on the cognitive processes of students while learning from teaching. Curriculum outlines are given for the videotaped lessons used in the second and third studies: lessons in sleep and elementary psychology. Included in the appendices are: (1) the illustrative script…

This article examines the problems of the intermediate-level foreign-language course as well as student attitudes and goals derived from survey data. (33 references) (CK)

Reviews literature related to learning styles and gender differences. Determines that abstract and reflection are associated traditionally with mind or masculine, whereas concrete experience and active experimentation are associated with the body or female. Calls for additional experiential activities to provide a more gender-balanced approach to…

Describes a learning theory course using methods recommended in the book, "Women's Ways of Knowing." Outlines course activities and assignments. Maintains that students gave the course high ratings on evaluations. (CFR)

This paper focuses on the current trends and issues in social studies education based on the literature that passes through the ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education (Indiana). Four trends pertaining to teaching content in history, geography, civics, and science in society have emerged from a review of the literature.…

Contends that, although social studies teachers want students to think, research indicates that most teaching emphasizes knowledge, leaving few opportunities for students to think about it. Discusses criteria to assist teachers and strategies that promote student thinking. (CFR)

Reports on a three-year ethnographic study of the visual arts curriculum in three elementary schools. Finds three distinct orientations: (1) the rote, teacher-centered orientation; (2) the open-ended, student-centered orientation; and (3) the higher order, cognitive orientation. (CFR)

Evaluation techniques were designed to improve learner performance through use of pre-specified popular instructional objectives. Current curriculum planning and evaluation practices are examined. Two common evaluation malpractices are: (1) the tendency to treat the content of the program as the most important criterion for evaluation, (2) the…