Argues that designing aids and tools to perfect the mind is one of the primary goals of educational research. It discusses the need for appropriate theories to design instructional materials and methods and explains why school practices have not changed to reflect advances in the understanding of learning and development. (GLR)

Fifty-five males with learning disabilities and 55 average-achieving males in grades 6-7 studied paired associates of varying difficulty levels, through image construction or pairing rehearsal. Regardless of item type or presentation rate, both groups of students benefited from imagery instructions, with great similarity in between-condition…

Challenged is the traditional model for the transmission of mathematics in the elementary school classroom. An inquiry approach to learning mathematics is proposed and supported with results of a year long research project that exposed second graders to mathematical learning experiences using this approach. (MDH)

This study examines the effect of formal representation of blue and yellow color mixtures as rational numbers on students' ability to solve ratio problems comparing the mixtures. Sixty subjects participated, 20 from each of grades 7, 8, and 9 from a Haifa (Israel) junior high school. Introducing the formal representation improved performance for…

Describes a textbook production project in a Central American country whose goal was the improvement of primary education. Disparities between educational opportunities in developed nations and Third World nations are discussed, and problems with the project that prevented it from meeting its goal are described. (32 references) (LRW)

Researchers tried training preservice teachers to make clearer presentations and produce greater student learning and satisfaction. Subjects received training in 17 instructional clarifying behaviors. Researchers videotaped their teaching pre- and posttraining. Learners rated content and satisfaction. Results indicated significant improvement in…

Describes discovery learning, a teaching method that encourages students to use inductive reasoning. Students explore and experiment using the skill or idea being taught; they determine rules, make generalizations, and discover concepts. The teacher acts as coach, advisor, and reinforcer. A student page offers a discovery learning game on capital…

Beginning geometry students misunderstand the requirements of formal proof because of confusion between deductive reasoning and argumentation. Presented is a cognitive analysis of deductive organization versus argumentative organization of reasoning and the applications of this analysis to learning. Implications of a study analyzing students'…

The NCTM Standards present a picture of classroom instruction different from present practice in secondary schools. Presented are three instructional practices: (1) presenting open-ended problems, (2) communication of ideas, and (3) probing for diversity and recommendations for restructuring mathematics instruction based on the California…

Three studies of construction and validity of a learner typology and an instructor typology based on the Canfield Learning Styles Inventory were conducted, using 851 male and 543 female community college students and 117 male and 120 female community college faculty members. The results provide support for both typologies. (SLD)

Regression analysis of results from 81 fourth graders (41 females) completing several assessments of metamemory indicate that relationships between metamemory and recall depend on assessment method and timing of the child's engagement with the recall task. General metamemory is significantly related to recall on the posttest and near transfer.…

The degree to which today's college students overcome tomorrow's challenge of knowledge obsolescence depends in part on higher education's teaching them how they learn what they learn. The Analysis of Learning Project, used in both undergraduate and graduate business administration courses, is designed to help students understand how they learn.…

This paper describes the use of cooperative groups in teaching calculus. It discusses benefits and drawbacks of group techniques and presents reactions from both students and the author. (Author)

This article reviews the literature on the use of content enhancement techniques to help secondary students with learning disabilities to identify, organize, comprehend, and memorize critical content information. Content enhancements described include visual displays, mnemonics, advance organizers, study guides, peer mediation, audiotapes, and…

To meet new North Carolina requirements for "infant credential" and "preschool handicapped" certification, teachers and other professionals working in 19 (mostly rural) early intervention programs received on-site training that combined seminars, consultation, and trainee projects. Evaluation revealed program characteristics…