Memory and study skill instruction can powerfully affect middle school students' classroom performance. Students should be taught to improve their study skills by increasing their knowledge about memory, their awareness of their own memory processes, and their use of effective memory strategies. At the middle level, concrete demonstrations,…

PPRUE(H), which stands for Present, Prepare, Rehearse, Use, Exhibit, and (H)omework, a student-centered oral skills learning device with an optional writing component, is described. It is designed to be used at intervals throughout the school year in foreign language classrooms with oral skills components. (LB)

Explores the role of prespecification and planning in education, noting arguments against the use of behavioral objectives. Much of what is unnatural in schooling is the overemphasis on prespecification of learner outcomes. Because adults reconstruct knowledge for children, children must be encouraged to make and negotiate meaning through…

College instructors should focus their teaching not only on content but also on how to learn content in the context of particular courses. Students need practice with a variety of learning strategies before they can understand why particular ones are most effective or be helped to improve their efficiency in using them. (Author/MSE)

Discusses methods for incorporating video into hypermedia programs. Knowledge representation in hypermedia is explained; video production techniques are discussed; comparisons between linear video, interactive video, and hypervideo are presented; appropriate conditions for hypervideo use are examined; and a need for new media research is…

Provides an overview of the "social constructionist" approach to teaching composition in sociology courses. Describes a course that is team taught by the authors and is based on the social constructionist paradigm. Stresses that sociological writing is a special type of discourse that can be taught most effectively by sociologists who…

Cooperative learning needs three key requirements to be successful: the development of new curriculum materials; ability to treat status problems arising in small groups; and availability of collegiality and strong organizational support. Stanford University's Program for Complex Instruction involves each group in different problem-solving tasks…

Discusses the strategies that a child might employ during the one-word stage in constructing an early lexicon. An attempt is made to shed light on some strategies by analyzing the lexical and phonological development of two children who seem to take opposite approaches. (Author/JL)

Investigates whether the consistent use of a vocabulary reinforcement technique referred to as "second-hand cloze" can result in a significant improvement in long-term retention of words. It is suggested that, although the second-hand cloze embodies some characteristics of other memorization techniques, it also overcomes their shortcomings. (21…

Discusses essential learning techniques (homework, studying, and notetaking) that students need to facilitate their own learning and improve their academic performance. Teachers can help students develop these skills by defining specific skills, selecting a few examples to illustrate them, critiquing or correcting imperfect examples, providing…

Studies the different effects on college readers of mnemonic imagery conditions compared to no-strategy control conditions. Indicates that both remedial and nonremedial readers scored significantly higher through exposure to mnemonic imagery conditions. (HB)

Some teachers believe that children will not learn unless they are entertained. However, in "Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure," Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reports that teens are most interested in school when the classes are demanding and they can stretch their brain power. Only entertaining students will prepare them…

Discusses the role of visualization of information in learning. Theorizes that the comprehension of visualizations is a process of structure mapping between a visuo-spatial configuration and a mental model. Tests the model and finds differences in the use of text and picture information to answer different kinds of text questions. (DSK)

Discusses a connectionist, or neural network, model of learning and representation. Argues that the less musical representations are developed, the more listeners refer to nonmusical associations to understand music. Suggests that music education should begin by providing students with tools to deal with music based on experiences already familiar…

Ninth graders (n=30 and n=39) who learned to use a prior knowledge activation (PKA) strategy consistently outperformed students in a main-idea strategy treatment group (n=25 and n=43) and those in a no-instruction control group (n=24 and n=44) on application-level questions but not on literal-level questions. (SLD)