Young children's nonverbal affective expression and communication reveals an emotional complexity and sensitivity which exceeds their verbal abilities. To investigate the development of nonverbal emotional communication in young children, two studies were undertaken. In the first study, equal numbers of 5- and 11-year-old children from two schools…

Relationships between mothers' behaviors and (1) their children's verbal and nonverbal cognitive functioning, (2) their children's level of play, and (3) mothers' perceptions of their children's task motivation were investigated. Forty-four mothers and their preschool children from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds participated in the…

Concept mapping typically refers to the graphic representation of concepts and their interrelationships. In this instance, concept mapping is used as a means for assessing an individual's conceptual understanding of a curricular topic. In a series of studies with teacher trainees, emphasis was on determining whether concept maps have regular…

Reports a series of studies conducted to investigate possible differences in the exploratory manipulation and play behavior of human infants 7-1/2- 11-1/2 months of age as a function of the attributes of the stimulus, the familiarity of the subject with the stimuli, the age and sex of the infants, and individual differences. (Author/CS)

This review provides a synthesis of selected research literature addressing the connection between social interaction and academic achievement, and the learning of children in the context of formal schooling. Evidence from approximately 100 research studies is presented which supports the hypothesis that human interaction is a critical factor in…

Music education in today's educational system has been fighting for its existence as a curricular subject, with many school systems finding it convenient to keep the classification of music-related activities in limbo. Music educators must be prepared to defend their programs and educational objectives or face a future of extra-curricular status…

The paper describes the GEL (Guidelines for Early Learning) Program developed by the Easter Seal Society of Southwest Florida which serves children, aged 4-6 years, with language, learning, and/or developmental problems. Developmental theories of Piaget and Chomsky and the model of David Weikart's High Scope Program were used to develop the GEL…

A great number of misconceptions in diverse subject areas as well as across age levels have been documented and described. Photosynthesis is one of the more intensively studied areas in biology. The purpose of this research was to carefully select and define misconceptions about photosynthesis needing remedial efforts. To achieve this, a specially…

Learning to teach mathematics for understanding is not easy. First, practice itself is complex. Second, many teachers' traditional experiences with and orientations to mathematics and its pedagogy are additional hindrances. This paper examines teaching practices and reviews some of what is known about prospective and experienced elementary…

This paper defines an already existing body of literature in trade books whose intrinsic characteristics provide a superstructure of support that make it particularly attractive to readers engaged in ongoing growth beyond beginning or emergent reading who, for whatever reason, cannot be considered mature or independent enough readers to engage…

There are fundamental differences in the forms of learning addressed by cognitive psychologists and educationalists. The phenomena explained by a psychological theory of learning are the successes of human cognition. The mechanisms posited are designed to account for how learning takes place, where the content of the learning is the physical and…

This monograph reviews the research findings related to study skills and provides a limited number of examples. The monograph emphasizes the relationship of information processing theory to effective teaching and learning, and details the growth of interest in metacognition. It reviews existing programs that teach study skills and discusses the…

Results of the 1989-90 product evaluation of the Chapter 1 prekindergarten program of the Saginaw, Michigan School District are reported. The purpose of the program is to provide educationally disadvantaged, inner-city 4-year-olds with an environment that will enable them to develop skills needed for success in school. In 1989-90, the program…

The question posed in this study was whether university reading methods courses influenced student teachers' instructional choices through a process of reflective judgment. It also examined the students' actual practices as they related to the complexity of their reflections, and whether reflective judgment could be improved by using journal…

A study investigated the finding that metacognitive ability and reading level are related, and examined the effects of both presentation and response modes on young children's ability to detect ambiguity in messages. An ambiguity detection test was completed by 74 first grade children (who also completed a reading pretest), 26 second graders, and…