Cultural differences, including the personal cultures of learners and educators and the culture of the larger social-political environment, are relevant to adult learning. Culture includes those values, beliefs, and practices shared by a group of people. Cultures tend to vary along a number of dimensions, and the following dimensions are among…

This paper explains the rationale for utilizing computer-based, hypermedia tutorials for radiology education and presents the results of a field test of this educational technique. It discusses the development of the hypermedia tutorials at Montreal General Hospital (Quebec, Canada) in 1991-92 and their use in the radiology residency program. The…

Understanding learning differences and how they function in the classroom is important to both students and teachers. The learning preferences described in this handbook are based on the concepts of psychological type developed by Carl Jung. Jung identified three sets of psychological processes, the areas of attitude (orientation), perception, and…

This book is designed to help the teacher become a reflective practitioner in the multicultural science classroom. The ideas presented are grounded in constructivist theory and emphasize a multicultural approach to science education. The first section, "Addressing Diversity," deals with issues germane to the science education needs of…

This paper investigates middle school students' particular beliefs about the process of scientific inquiry as well as their beliefs about learning science, specifically the level of autonomy appropriate and their preference for memorization or understanding. Data collection instruments included a beliefs assessment, measures of student…

A keen understanding of ethnocentricity and the role it might play in classroom instruction may determine whether or not writing strategies for language-diverse learners will be effective. Research indicates that it is the attitudes of teachers toward students that most distinguishes successful teachers from unsuccessful teachers. The first…

Studies examining the topics of attitude and achievement, attitudes of males and females, and grade level and gender have produced a variety of inconsistent or weak results. This study investigated elements of science classrooms that are influential in forming the attitudes of students. The study used projective and cross-sex probes in two new…

Years ago the prevailing assumption was that there was something wrong with "unmotivated" minority children, but gradually educators have come to realize that there may be something wrong with the schools, and that it is possible to do something to engage children in learning. Theories of motivation are shifting from thinking about motivation as…

Student teachers in Australia and Singapore were asked to solve a one-step ratio problem and to complete open sentences about the nature of mathematics and mathematics pedagogy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the similarities and differences in proportional reasoning of the student teachers in Australia and Singapore through the…

A study identified issues involved in teaching through difference. The research took place during the teaching of the subject "Cross Cultural Communication" at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Students were predominantly women of mixed ethnic backgrounds who were mainly "mature-age" students undertaking university…

This packet of materials is designed to aid teachers in redesigning their courses to accommodate diverse students. The worksheets help organize information on what aspects of diversity are present in each class, what course elements can and cannot be adapted to them, and how these adaptations might be implemented. The worksheets, along with the…

This digest explains how functional language instruction can be made useful for persons with moderate to severe disabilities who are also culturally and linguistically different. It further explains how vocabulary and cultural information of the Spanish-speaking student can be included in functional language instruction for students who are from…

This paper questions both what was being tested in prior instructional media research on the educational value of film and television and the value of some of those findings. An alternative way of conceptualizing the communication process that occurs when students view an instructional film or television program is proposed, which places viewers…

In a study that was conducted to measure performance as a function of multimedia instructions, 360 college students in a University of Colorado introductory psychology course were taught to build a model helicopter from an assembly kit. Their instructions consisted of either viewing a narrated film (one or two viewings), or hands-on practice using…

To determine whether individual differences in student achievement and learning rate are reduced or eliminated by mastery instruction, 166 Navy trainees who had completed a computer-managed course in basic electricity and electronics were cluster-analyzed into groups, using 24 measures of cognitive characteristics. Discriminant analyses were…