The Learning Styles school and the Approaches to Learning school represent two rather different perspectives on the interaction of students with a learning situation. This paper outlines the basic positions of the two schools, and then considers the extent to which it is possible to reconcile them. A possible framework for such a task by Riding (…

This paper investigates teachers use of prior knowledge in whole class teaching contexts and draws on data from an ESRC-funded study. The paper explores how teachers conceptualise prior knowledge, principally as that which has been taught in school. It demonstrates strong teacher awareness of how the teaching under consideration fits with learning…

In this article, we present two studies that helped us understand the kinds of support that students need to learn science successfully from design activities. Both were enacted in the context of an approach to learning science from design called learning by design (LBD). In our first study, we designed and integrated a paper-and-pencil…

The metabolic versatility of bacteria is a source of learning difficulty for students in classical microbiology courses. To facilitate the learning process, the authors developed an advance organizer. It consists of a set of six diagrams of metabolic pathways describing the basic living requirements of several types of bacteria: energy, carbon…

To improve professional practice, educators need sound principles about how learning works to guide their pedagogical decisions, actions, policies, and practices. Such principles as teaching for fluent and flexible transfer, incorporating big ideas that connect isolated facts, and providing user-friendly feedback make learning meaningful for…

As teachers think about their career and the nature of their professional commitment, they should consider treating their classrooms as creative opportunities for mapping the learning process for both themselves and their students. This article provides suggestions for designing a classroom that will offer creative learning opportunities for…

One dilemma science teachers face every day is balancing the content demands of state and federal testing requirements while providing opportunities for inquiry. Using the 5E learning cycle is a realistic, constructivist way to address this dilemma. The 5E learning cycle leads students through a sequence of learning in which they become engaged in…

One dilemma science teachers face every day is balancing the content demands of state and federal testing requirements while providing opportunities for inquiry. Using the 5E learning cycle is a realistic, constructivist way to address this dilemma. The 5E learning cycle leads students through a sequence of learning in which they become engaged in…

Density is a difficult concept for students to learn because it is abstract and because it is derived from the concepts of mass and volume. The solution is to address density at each of the three levels of scientific understanding: macroscopic, particle/modeling, and symbolic. This article demonstrates how to help students gain a conceptual…

Anomalies in colour vision constitute a particular type of sensory deficiency whose influence in educational contexts has attracted surprisingly little research attention given its ubiquitous use in various learning activities as a code, an aid, or even as the focus of the activity itself, especially during early education. We here describe a…

When children explain their answers to a problem, they convey their thoughts not only in speech but also in the gestures that accompany that speech. Teachers, when explaining problems to a child, also convey information in both speech and gesture. Thus, there is an undercurrent of conversation that takes place in gesture alongside the acknowledged…

Early Years educators have always had a particularly secure feel for what lies at the heart of vibrant education, for "a principled understanding of learning." Here Mary Jane Drummond reminds the reader, not only that professional knowledge exists outside ring binders, but that, prior to their emergence, we did know some very important things we…

Knowing something about the human brain and how it works is vital for those who engage in the educational ministry of the church. This article reviews several resources providing important information about the brain, including insight as to the ways in which this information connects with teaching and learning practice in the church. Focusing on…

In order to facilitate the transition from learning from worked examples in earlier stages of skill acquisition to problem solving in later stages, it is effective to successively fade out worked solution steps--in comparison to the traditional method of employing example--problem pairs that is frequently used in cognitive-load research. In the…

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of learning styles in developing learning in a higher education context. Design/methodology/approach. The paper employs a case study of a year one introductory module for first-year university students in a post-1992 university. Findings - It is suggested that learning styles in association…