Presents personal reflections on experiences in distance education and teaching practices. Kolb's experiential learning cycle is discussed; technological, facilitation, and learning confusions are examined; and constructivist learning and common sense are considered. (LRW)

Examines the subprocesses of reading, as identified in first- and second-language reading research, and the two types of input required, i.e., data from the text and learner stored data. It is argued that, through activities designed to work with each one of the subprocesses in turn, attention can be focused on the subprocess as well as the…

Explains the use of a card lab to demonstrate how a population bottleneck impacts genetic diversity and the survival of a population. Uses a standard deck of playing cards to show how age structure can magnify bottleneck effects. (DDR)

Presents a study which employed sociolinguistics perspectives to investigate the social context of two mathematics classrooms that differed in socioeconomic background and gender of students. Argues that as mathematical knowledge is being constructed in the classroom, student participants are being constructed by the teachers according to their…

Describes by vignette and analysis four primary instructional tasks necessary to develop inquiry skills in children. Such tasks are shown to be fundamental to the inviting classroom and to experimental science. Claims that inviting inquiry requires a tolerance of error, supportive environments that nurture intellects, and participation that…

Describes procedures for a demonstration of the focal length of spherical lenses and mirrors using an aquarium, a flashlight, and nondairy creamer. Enables nonquantitative three-dimensional observation of these phenomena. (DDR)

Addresses the initial understanding that advanced undergraduate mathematics students exhibit when presented with a new concept in an environment requiring self-generation and self-validation of examples of the concept. Concludes that students who used an example generation learning strategy were more effective in attaining an initial understanding…

Notes that Guided Design is a teaching strategy that can be used to increase high school and college students' comprehension when reading and studying. Describes implementation of Guided Design and a summary of one student's application of Guided Design to the comprehension of a difficult chapter in a cognitive psychology textbook. (RS)

Examines the disposition of the Socrates program in relation to the teaching and learning of languages and, in a general way, to teaching projects. The article focuses on the development of tools for teaching languages, exchange programs, evaluation of linguistic competitions, projects to promote the learning of languages, and supporting…

Explains distributional regularity (DR), an intuition that sound sequences occurring frequently and in multiple contexts are candidates for the lexicon. Describes study that proposed hypotheses about children's segmenting sounds using DR functions, exploiting phonotactic constraints on pronunciation, and learning word-boundary clusters. Details…

High school students (n=210) surveyed about their out-of-school activities reported low use of learning strategies in their activities, although those who pursued a subject out-of-school because of interest did use learning strategies. Findings suggest encouraging transfer of learning strategies to the out-of-school domain. (SLD)

Describes how a first-grade teacher often concludes the study of a topic with a "what we've learned chart" (which adapts paragraph frames to extend the well-known K-W-L chart) to assess student learning and provide opportunities for nonfiction writing. (SR)

Presents teaching strategies that illustrate the linking together of numerous chemical concepts involving the activity of metals (quantitative analysis, corrosion, and electrolysis) through the use of deep-level processing strategies. Concludes that making explicit links in the process of teaching chemistry can lead effectively to meaningful…

Describes a teaching experience through student-centered activities in a second year algebra class with gifted and talented students. Concludes that students learned more mathematics than the teacher originally planned to teach. (KHR)

Sketches out the argumentative strategies used by three 17-year-old boys to interpret the disagreement presented to them. Shows that they were inclined to adduce current ideas about science--framed according to a realist, empiricist epistemology--but that there are grounds for thinking that high school students would be capable of actualizing…