An investment in early childhood education pays off when the benefits continue into adulthood. Although many recent preschool interventions have had positive, short-term effects on young children's language, literacy, mathematics, executive function, and social-emotional development, studies show that related gains in cognitive and academic skills…

When we evaluated variables that influence the effectiveness of the high-probability (high-p) instruction sequence, the sequence was associated with a precipitous decrease in compliance with high-"p" instructions for 1 participant, thereby precluding continued use of the sequence. We investigated the reasons for this decrease. Stimuli associated…

There were no differences in the understanding of physical optics and ability to solve physical optics problems after instruction or on a delayed test between students with or without prior instruction in wave motion. (AL)

The author strongly questions the arbitrary and random usage of diverse experiences, labs, games and activities in the mathematics classroom. He urges that teachers not substitute these activities for carefully planned, sequential mathematics instruction. (CT)

A method of organizing studies on sequencing problems in mathematics according to a theoretical model based on characteristics of empirical science is explained. The conceptual framework underlying eight studies that follow this article in JRME (SE 508 022 through SE 508 029) is discussed and a brief overview of each study is given. (DT)

Provides an example of an attempt to base an epistemology of teaching and education on the powers of the mind rather than on the impacts of the world upon the mind. In this discussion, the example selected is related to numbers and the teaching of mathematics. (RP)

Second-grade students were randomly assigned to either an instructional unit within which addition and subtraction of two digit numbers were treated as a single integrated process of regrouping or one which developed the addition and subtractive algorithms sequentially. Periodic assessments favored the sequential approach, but differences were not…

This document discusses how the organization of instruction influences the encoding and structuring of new material in the memory and the subsequent transfer of such information to novel situations. A theory of instruction for problem solving that considers relevant cognitive variables and that specifies the conditions for productive learning is…

A method of systematic behavior analysis is applied to the problem of designing a sequence of learning objectives that will provide an optimal match for the child's natural sequence of acquisition of mathematical skills and concepts. The authors begin by proposing an operational definition of the number concept in the form of a set of behaviors…

This paper outlines the rationale of the Fundamentals Underlying Number (F. U. N.) program, and describes Unit I, which is primarily intended for nursery and kindergarten children. This unit develops concepts for sets, numbers, and relations. Each major concept is broken into finely sequenced levels, and at each level instruction is through two…

Questions the approach used to the topic of energy in Nuffield Secondary Science. Indicates that 14-year-old children will not be able to generalize from the experiments to see a pattern energing, and the concept of energy involves understanding of other concepts that the children have not yet attained. (GS)

An introduction to instructional strategies is offered. The author uses the term to refer to prescriptive rules for designing instructional events which create the learning experiences for the mastery of behavioral objectives. The intention is to familiarize the reader with properties of behavior to which instructional events must be responsive…