Educators are urged to encourage gifted/talented students to teach themselves foreign languages. This essay discusses the lack of language requirements in schools, linguistic insensitivity or laziness shown by Americans, individuals' linguistic potential, goals of multilingual development, the appropriate time to introduce foreign languages, and…

Recommends teaching both mental imagery (an unobtrusive, natural text processing strategy) and summarizing (an efficient text reorganization strategy) to students who do not spontaneously use them. (NKA)

The reprinted 1978 article with a 1988 update advocates a combination of enrichment and acceleration to meet the needs of gifted youth. It presents a three-stage enrichment model to develop: (1) divergent and convergent thinking abilities; (2) creative thinking and problem solving strategies; and (3) independent learning abilities. (VW)

A study was conducted to investigate student perceptions of independent study instruction by analyzing student evaluations of program procedures, instructors, instructional materials, assignments and examinations, and student self-assessments. It also investigated students' reasons for enrolling and not completing their independent study courses…

Noting the success of Britain's Open University with its reliance on self-paced workbooks, independent reading and computer-based instruction, this article offers a case study of the introduction of a resource-based learning component in the final year of an honors geography course. States that helping students maintain regular study patterns was…

Museums, libraries, zoos, parks, historical sites, and other cultural institutions can be vehicles for much self-directed learning. This article reviews these opportunities and efforts to utilize them. It discusses cultural institutions as invitational environments, conditions of learning in cultural institutions, and tools and initiatives for…

Recommends pluralistic general education programming to accommodate diversity in faculty orientations, values, and perceptions of knowledge; and disparity in students' academic ability, values, and preferred learning styles. Suggests a multi-track general education model emphasizing different, but equally demanding, educational experiences for…

A survey of students who completed portfolios of self-acquired competencies to earn credit for prior learning at Indiana University reveals the benefits derived from the process including self-esteem, ability for self-evaluation, and better focus for their degree programs. (SK)

Determined whether significant differences exist in cognitive achievement and in the level of acquisition of practical skills among ninth-grade students (N=1025) in cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning conditions in science laboratories. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for more productive science laboratory…

A Northern Illinois University elementary teacher education program in which certain courses are taught with the use of self-paced courseware packets is described, and the technique's usefulness in promoting and integrating computer literacy in the curriculum is discussed. (MSE)

Examined the effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic interaction patterns in promoting acquisition of science process skills during biology laboratory activities. Results (from 720 secondary students--352 girls and 368 boys) show that competitive interaction was superior to cooperative and individualistic interaction…

Although the basic objective of providing some local support services for Britain's Open University students has been met, some feel that the services are not operating optimally, and there is no direct evidence that the services achieve their stated goals, including reducing attrition, enhancing achievement and satisfaction, and giving academic…

Highlights are offered of one district's 7 years of experience with a Walkabout program. Steps found to accelerate individual effectiveness among adolescents include building confidence, responsibility, attitude, and skills. These steps have also been appled to adults in seminars for teachers and administrators, a school improvement process, and…

Described is a community experience activity, utilizing independent study, which was implemented in a secondary alternative school in Canada. As a result of an initial visit to the local community, students had to come up with a product (e.g., an essay, arrange for a guest speaker to come to class). (RM)

A learning system is a logical arrangement of learning experience progressions designed to improve the relevance of educational topics to the individual student, using such strategies as pre- and post-assessments, recycling activities, learning laboratories, small and large group meetings, and independent study. (MB)