Describes an undergraduate seminar where each student's central task was to select a specific social movement/social change organization, collect data on it, and write a 20-page sociological analysis. The results were disappointing, with most students presenting a historical chronology accompanied by a compilation of facts. Discusses possible…

Describes a year-long project where the specialist teachers (music, art, drama, and creative movement) attempted to integrate their instruction into the rest of an elementary school's curriculum. Discusses the initial planning, procedures, and information collected for research purposes. Includes verbatim responses from teachers, students, and…

Reports on a project in the United Kingdom identifying strategies to manage classroom discourse in ways designed to give words and their meanings particular kinds of attention in order to foster vocabulary development in children studying English as an additional language. Notes that in this project, target word-meanings related to learning…

Describes procedures used to establish, promote, and implement an undergraduate research experience that included financial sponsorship by local business and government agencies. This sponsorship allowed students to apply psychological theory and methods to problems outside of academia. Students produced reports and gave formal presentations to…

Addresses challenges faced by bilingual children transitioning to literacy in English when answering reading comprehension questions requiring interpretation and synthesis of information related to fictitious characters' thoughts. Notes that understanding a character's perspective may depend on inference, rather than on lexical content within a…

Reports on a pilot study designed to assess the potential of computer-marked tests for allowing students to monitor their learning. Students' answers to multiple choice tests were fed into a computer that provided a full analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Students responded favorably to the feedback. (MJP)

Presents four Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DR-TA) for use in secondary social studies classrooms. Defines a DR-TA and shows its applicability in teaching students effective study habits when reading social studies textbooks. Offers strategies intended to engage students with their textbooks, highlighting interior monologues and grouping…

Encapsulates a series of verbatim statements made by young musicians about the joy music has brought to their lives. The musicians, all students at Black Mountain Middle School in San Diego, California, exhibit a wide range of responses discussing their commitment, hard work, and sense of accomplishment. (MJP)

This study of student teachers used concept maps, the Virginia observation system for evaluation of beginning teachers, and a specific procedure to assess pupil responses to lessons. Results supported a relationship between student teachers' behavioral and cognitive domains. Patterns of pupil responses varied according to the planning perspectives…

Describes the restructuring of an introductory women's study course which by filling an academic requirement attracted a broader audience. Discusses the instructors' need to change the tone of the class to respond to students who may be hostile to a feminist perspective. Includes a series of exercises to help students focus their observations. (DK)

A total of 318 students in preschool, kindergarten and first grade used the Primary Grade Pupil Report to report on their teachers. Preschool students' reports on teachers were more negative than those of kindergarten and first grade students. Factor analysis identified different significant factors for the two groups. (Author/BB)

Investigates the effects of familiarity with a teacher and rehearsal context on students' interpretations of teacher verbal praise. Finds that students could distinguish between deserved and instrumental praise, could make the distinction better with familiar teachers, and were not unanimous in their interpretations of the same signal. (DSK)

Develops a theoretical framework for understanding the principles that regulate the expression and reception of "everyday" knowledge (attitudes about sex, drug usage) in the classroom. Investigates three different school-based contexts: the formal classroom, small group interaction during lesson time, and group interviews (outside the classroom).…

Investigates the sincerity and validity of uptake as a measure of language learning by comparing the words students report they have learned after completing a listening task with the words they score correctly on a translation test. Results indicate that whereas uptake may have construct validity, its concurrent validity is uncertain. (16…