This paper illustrates how theoretical research and development of an innovative instructional approach have been successfully integrated with teacher training and classroom implementation. This approach, called "Complex Instruction", was designed to facilitate the development of cognitive, academic, and linguistic functioning of all students in…

This handbook designed for teachers of sixth through ninth grades, has two objectives: (1) to make the concept of critical thinking and the principles that underlie it clear; and (2) to show how critical thinking can be taught in language arts, social studies, and science. The introduction presents the reader with the concepts of critical thinking…

The AIM High Program was developed for elementary school children in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District who demonstrate unusually high ability, interest, and motivation in language arts, mathematics, science, and art. Students are identified for the program through standardized test scores, teacher recommendation, student interest,…

This paper reports on a study which was designed to teach language skills and concepts to kindergarten children who had entered school with serious language deficiencies. The study's objectives were to: (1) provide the opportunity for interaction between child and adult; (2) encourage the development of concepts through concrete experiences,…

In a study involving creative spelling, 300 kindergarten children and one first grader used computer programs to spell words in isolation and in stories they wrote. As the children made progress toward writing words in conventional spelling, they developed phonological spelling strategies similar to those that have previously been reported for…

An individual who undertook the study of Lithuanian recounts his experiences in getting started and provides information about available materials and radio broadcasts in the language. Texts, tapes, records, and materials designed for children are listed and sources provided. Techniques found to be useful for independent language learning are also…

This monograph is designed to help teachers and students to recognize and overcome obstacles to improved motivation for learning. The following topics are covered: (1) student motivation as an educational problem; (2) current motivation methods in school and classroom; (3) a "systems" model to promote a motivating school and classroom; (4)…

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether children remembered information more efficiently if they were provided with an explicit purpose for learning. In the first experiment, 96 5-year-old children watched a simple science demonstration and were told either to remember the names of the depicted items from pictures for a memory test…

Observation of machine or production operators in a Singapore factory for insight into their need for English language skills, existing skills, and the results of a basic English language program in which many were enrolled revealed that, although the workers were generally poorly educated and had minimal English skills, they were able to decode…

The purpose of this book is to help athletic coaches improve the way they teach sport skills. Section I covers the athletic coach's instructional responsibilities for a single season, and ways of adjusting teaching styles to the learning needs of athletes. Section II offers guidance in presenting sport skills and how to introduce, explain, and…

Research indicates four sources for the use of the first language in the second language classroom. Environment and the learners cannot be easily controlled, but materials and teachers can. The goal of such control is to increase second language input primarily at the macro level for reading, listening, and speaking practice, thus speeding up the…

Sixty high school juniors and seniors participated in an experiment testing the effects of learning strategies on performance. The experiment was run in two identical sessions except for the type of test administered. Information on classifying six types of sailboats was presented through slides and an oral explanation. Subjects were then given a…

Relationships between media format, sensory channel, and cognitive information processing are not straightforward. Media format does not determine information processing and storage except when a deliberate attempt is made to model cognitive processes by manipulating the medium. Sensory channel only affects processing and learning for relatively…

According to Benjamin Bloom's (1981) concept of of mastery learning, most students--given the appropriate instruction and learning resources, adequate time spent learning, and perseverance--can learn a particular academic skill. Because a classroom often does not provide enough time or resources for developmental students to master necessary basic…

Attempts to train learning strategies have not produced marked or lasting increases in academic IQ, probably because current training models fail to recognize the evolutionary nature of strategies acquisition. Empirical and theoretical evidence supports an incidental learning model, which engineers the instructional environment following study…