Taking a cautious view of research into the workings of the brain, this booklet suggests that such research has merely given validity to a truth good teachers have always known: all people have two ways of thinking, a linear, logical way, and a spatial, intuitive way. It also suggests that faced with cries for "basics" in education, it…

A study to determine the effects of higher level interactive questioning procedures on the cognitive abilities of gifted students was conducted with 14 gifted sixth grade students. The students were selected from a public school enrichment program and randomly assigned to one of two groups that met for five weekly sessions. The control group was…

Problem solving approaches often find a path from the givens to the unknown or from the unknown to the givens. This study explores those approaches using written protocols of Navy subjects while solving for the numerical value of an unknown from several knowns and a system of equations. For a subset of the items, solutions require subjects to…

Marginal and other intratext notations (gloss) can be used as an instructional technique to direct readers' active attention to (1) places in text where the application of specific skills would be appropriate (either for teaching or for encouraging the application of specific skills), (2) instances where a particular strategy could be useful for…

This study attempted to gather empirical evidence to guide educators in their teaching of linear measurement to primary school children. It attempted to answer the question "What modes of instruction are most effective for teaching linear measurement concepts to conservers and nonconservers of length?" (as defined by Jean Piaget), using a…

EFFECTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO DIRECT-DETAILED AND DIRECT DISCOVERY METHODS OF ORGANIZING AND PRESENTING TAPED (AURAL) INSTRUCTION WERE COMPARED. INITIAL LEARNING, RETENTION, AND TRANSFER OF TRAINING WERE MEASURED. DIRECTED DISCOVERY, DIRECT-DETAILED METHODS, AND A SINGLE CONTROL WERE THE INDEPENDENT TREATMENT VARIABLES. HIGH, AVERAGE, AND LOW ABILITY…

This paper reviews the research of Ference Marton and his group of researchers at Goteborg University. It describes and explains research on: 1) what students learn, 2) how students approach learning, 3) the relationship between approach and learning outcome, 4) student perceptions of learning, and 5) the possibility of manipulating student…

When the science of linguistics is treated as a variety of ways for searching for truth and theory, rather than as a body of established theories, it can be taught successfully in the early grades. Some of the generalizations in linguistics (e.g., the articulatory description of differences between significant sounds, of the classification of…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether familiarity was a significant factor in increased cognitive synthesis scores and to conduct a comparison of the training methods employed on the basis of the test score patterns. Previous studies had revealed that symbolic representation was important, but they had not clarified the ways in which…

A study sought to cause a change in the question-phrasing practices of 40 students enrolled in elementary science methods classes. A method of instruction involving the analysis of videotaped classroom lessons illustrative of four categories (cognitive-memory, convergent, divergent, and evaluative) of poorly phrased and effectively phrased…

The purpose of this report is to describe a systematic method of presenting a concept-learning problem to grade school children. Each child is tested individually. He is introduced to the concepts of size, shape, color, number of forms, and color of border on 2 by 3 inch cards in a practice book. He is then acquainted with a classificatory rule.…

Three aspects of concept teaching might be guided by the conceptual learning and development model. First, by assessing the characteristics of cognitive style, classificatory skills, and logical reasoning ability, the student's readiness to attain concepts under various circumstances can be determined. Secondly, the model points to optimal methods…

An introduction to the theory of algorithms reviews the theoretical issues of teaching algorithms, the logical and psychological problems of devising algorithms of identification, and the selection of efficient algorithms; and then relates all of these to the classroom teaching process. It also descirbes some major research on the effectiveness of…

This collection of 10 essays on the nature of second language learning focuses mainly on distinctions between the audiolingual and the cognitive-code theory of learning and also on the interrelationships between psychology, linguistics, and second language learning. A synthesis which cuts across divisions in methodology, caused by superficial…

This paper suggests appropriate material for a general humanities course founded on the classics and discusses the proper way of presenting it. The document also gives examples of such a course, which have been used successfully over a number of years. The ultimate purpose, of those who teach the humanities is brought out, i.e., to shape minds and…