Twenty-nine high-school students were taught ratio and proportion word problems using either an interactive videodisc program incorporating empirically validated curriculum design principles or a teacher-taught program with basals. Both groups, composed of remedial and learning-disabled students, made substantial performance gains, with the…

A discussion of the effectiveness of French immersion education chronicles its history, presents some of the evidence against the approach, discusses the findings of a recent report in light of pedagogical rather than theoretical second language acquisition assumptions, and outlines the alternative road to bilingualism through classroom…

Investigates the effects of two hypermedia interface design strategies on learner efficiency, perceptions of usability, and performance. Compares undergraduate student outcomes of comprehending and locating information by using manual and visual filtering via computers. Findings support the use of these filtering tools as methods of increasing…

Argues for the use of computer-stored corpora in courses in grammar awareness for teachers of mother-tongue English. It is suggested that the ability to do grammar entails a set of skills rather than a body of knowledge and that corpora provide excellent data for doing grammar. Questions regarding the comparison of different methodologies are…

Argues that the pedagogy of self-expression is conceptually confused and internally inconsistent, insensitive to class and cultural differences within American society, and a symptom of the malady of postmodern emptiness. The author uses fieldwork vignettes to introduce a Japanese approach to dealing with children's expressions of feelings.…

Two experiments are reported that compare teacher-managed videotaped instructional materials featuring native speakers in everyday situations (using the "French in Action" video-based curriculum) to more traditional pedagogical methods involving a variety of classroom exercises and drills. The benefits of video use are discussed. (27…

Examined strategies that students reported using in the comprehension and learning of new information while listening to two radio broadcasts in Spanish. The findings have implications for both the use of authentic listening materials in instruction and for listening strategy research. (51 references) (LB)

A study compared the effectiveness of two methods of teaching psychomotor skills (simulation feedback and guided discovery) to 55 dental hygiene students. The students receiving simulated feedback obtained slightly higher midterm and final grades and showed less variation, suggesting this as a better method for teaching instrumentation skills.…

The spelling performance of 22 male and 26 female first graders using a simultaneous oral spelling method was compared when students were writing the words, spelling them with letter tiles, or typing them on a computer keyboard. Results of two experiments indicate the superiority of handwriting in improving spelling acquisition. (SLD)

An ongoing research project at the University of Alabama explores the term paper bibliographies of students receiving two different forms of library instruction. Two librarians score each bibliography for appropriateness and quality of sources. Results to date indicate that bibliographies of students receiving extra library instruction are not…

The knowledge and abilities necessary for reflective and able adult literacy teaching are discussed. Focus is on whether there are common theoretical underpinnings in the adult basic education (ABE) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) fields, and a comparison of ABE and TESOL field practices. (nine references) (LB)

Discusses difficulties of Persian speakers, including literacy problems in learning English because of differences in script, and offers suggestions for solving some of the problems in handwriting, spelling, form-filling, punctuation, and reading. (LB)

Pharmacy students were surveyed before and after participation in a nonprescription drug course. Some were taught by computer and some were not. Overall, student attitudes did not vary by type of instructional method, and course performance as measured by examination was unrelated to attitudes about computers. (Author/MSE)

Compared effects of a reciprocal model and a transmission model on 6-year olds' learning of English as a second language. Found that older 6-year olds performed significantly better than younger 6-year olds on receptive vocabulary and language and on reading accuracy and comprehension. The reciprocal model of teaching and learning had positive…

Explores the views of junior high school students in Cambridgeshire (England) and Yamanashi (Japan) on the nature of history and their experiences with history teaching methods. Concludes that teachers in England should emphasize the acquisition of knowledge within history, while Japanese teachers must alter their students' attitudes to change…