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…

This report describes the conceptual background, design, and methodology for a study of management of academic tasks in junior high school. Previous research suggests that tasks students accomplish in classrooms determine what they actually learn, and acquisition of higher cognitive skills related to interpretation and planning is essential for…

This report includes an overview of the design and procedures used in the junior high school phase of a study of managing academic tasks (MAT) conducted by the Research on Classroom Learning and Teaching Program at the University of Texas at Austin. A description of the current status of data analysis, a summary of preliminary findings, and…

This report contains a description of the conceptual background and methodology for a study concerning how academic tasks are managed in senior high school classrooms. This high school study is Phase 2 of the Managing Academic Tasks (MAT) study. The MAT study is focused on understanding how curriculum experiences are shaped by the classroom…

This paper describes some practical lessons derived from the Managing Academic Tasks studies conducted at the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas at Austin. The research included case studies of academic work conducted in 10 junior and senior high school science, mathematics, social studies, and English…