Discussion of cooperative learning focuses on how it can be used with course assignments that require students to use the chemical literature, based on experiences with undergraduate chemistry students at Earlham College (Indiana). Suggests factors to consider when developing cooperative learning exercises, including group dynamics and an emphasis…

Describes a theoretical framework for the analysis of conceptual change that considers conceptual knowledge as a generative cognitive tool for the creation of more specific mental representations. Argues that a task-oriented interaction between propositional structures and mental models can help learners evaluate the consistency of their…

Discusses how to use stories to help children connect mathematical ideas to their own lives. Gives examples of picture books and other children's books that present math ideas, suggests the use of visual learning and real-life applications, and explains how to adapt ideas to library media center activities. (LRW)

Recounts a teacher's experiences with the development and use of online field trips in a fourth-grade classroom. Uses these to outline questions that need to be answered in creating virtual field trip Web sites. Provides an example of a field trip that follows the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. (DSK)

Summarizes an experiential training trip for teachers and river guides in the Auburn State Recreation Area (California). Explores the connection of man with water and relates this connection to the California History/Social Studies Framework. Outlines themes for student research and recommends resources for teacher training and for curriculum…

Explores, through an analysis of students' experiences in an integrated science and social studies unit, how the students acquired new knowledge. Explains how students learned different things from the same classroom activities and how different classroom activities created different learning processes. Notes implications for design of classroom…

Describes the use of a multi-part journal format, known as the synthesis journal, in academic assistance composition classes. The journal promotes students' abilities to synthesize ideas from four major sources--text, lecture, class discussion, and personal experience--and encourages higher-order thinking skills without shifting attention from the…

Investigated how Dutch teachers and adult, female, immigrant students in basic education dealt with active learning, noting impediments to active learning experienced by teachers in basic education. Interviews with teachers and students indicated that students' passive attitudes, which teachers interpreted as culturally determined and problematic,…

Examines the language-learning strategies employed by 58 bilingual primary school-aged children. Also investigated whether the types of language-learning strategies used by these learners are moderated by whether they were born in Australia, the cultural group in which they belong, whether they had received English-as-a-Second-Language help, and…

Reports on a case study of meaningful science learning in two African-American female high school students. Finds that complex cultural factors that permit cognitive passivity, confidence-without-competence, and attention to behavior over learning contribute to cognitive disengagement and ultimately to the blocking of intentional, meaningful…

Briefly reviews current understandings of learning that have direct implications for teaching practice, and includes references to other work that may be useful. Discusses five general topics: multiple domains of competence (multiple intelligences); socioemotional factors in cognitive processes; collaborative learning; pathways to competence; and…

Undertakes a study to evaluate second-language learning with a videodisc named "Vi-Conte." Presents the research methodology as well as analyses of 78 learners' navigational patterns, strategies, gains in vocabulary items, changes in attitude, and global evaluation of the videodisc. Makes suggestions for the development of…

Compares the effectiveness of multimedia and traditional classes. Results show that (1) students in both classes did not differ on abilities before enrollment; (2) students in the multimedia class averaged higher examination scores; and (3) there are no consistent patterns between learning preferences and final examination scores in either case.…

Discusses challenges and possible approaches to using compressed video in a course, based on the author's observations of students at a "distance" site during a history course that used this technology. Finds that both technological and pedagogical problems need to be addressed to make a course using this technology the equal of a…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program designed to prepare 12 Israeli adults with physical disabilities for autonomous and independent life in the community. Results found that it was possible to enhance participants' autonomy based on a systematic program that included development of group cohesiveness along with development of…