Methods are suggested to stimulate learning disabled children to develop the metacognitive skills of: (1) reflecting on what they already know, (2) devising a plan for attacking the problem, (3) monitoring progress, and (4) evaluating the outcome of the plan. (DB)

Intended to assist teachers in evaluation of specific learning strategies for learning disabled students, the article summarizes 14 metacognitive strategies (sets of steps used by the student to talk his or her way through a problem) based on principles of rehearsal, transformation, organization, mnemonics, monitoring, motivation, and…

Examines perspectives on language transfer in the light of a body of data regarding a beginning learner of French whose native language was English but who also had some knowledge of Irish, Latin, and Spanish. (Author/CB)

Research based instructional procedures to facilitate generalization of learning strategies by remedial students are offered at four levels of generalization: antecedent, concurrent, subsequent, and independent. Within each level, specific procedures mediated by the special teacher, the regular teacher, peer, and/or student are illustrated.…

Professional computer programmers' mental representations of computer programs were studied. In two experiments, subjects were tested on comprehension and recognition, or asked to modify a program. The influence of procedural relations (control flow) was more dominant than the influence of functional relations (goal hierarchy). (GDC)

Describes Noel Entwhistle's book "Styles of Learning and Teaching," detailing how it can be used to help students learn and store knowledge. Also describes a course on the theory and practice of cognitive processes taught at Carnegie Mellon University. (DH)

A story mapping strategy was used to effectively improve reading comprehension in heterogeneous groups of third/fourth graders, including five learning disabled and low achieving students. Group averages maintained above 80 percent when students were no longer required to use the strategy. (Author/DB)

A new approach to learning French verbs based on the stem of the present tense and ignoring traditional classifications by infinitive is proposed. (MSE)

Children 6- to ll-years-old heard concrete sentences which they were asked to learn. Half the children received imagery instruction. Greater short-term memory and verbal competence predicted better sentence learning in the imagery condition, but not in the control condition. (Author/NH)

Critiques Robert Slavin's interpretation of the mastery learning cumulative research record, expressed in the same "Educational Leadership" issue. Cites the existence of longitudinal studies showing mastery learning's effectiveness and underlines similarities between this model and Slavin's Success for All model. Includes six references.…

Criticizes Robert Slavin for failing to recognize the author's proper role in evaluating numerous popular learning interventions, including mastery learning. Slavin's claim of "remarkable progress" with Success for All is unjustified, considering the unsubstantiated evidence given in his single unpublished study. Includes two references.…

Research evidence shows that cooperative learning strategies are not equally effective, though most positively affect self-esteem, intergroup relations, and the ability to work with others. To produce achievement gains, these methods must include both a group goal and individual accountability. Includes 19 references. (MLH)

Describes one teacher's attempts to move her students from rote learning to reasoning. Elaborates on the use of a standardized multiple-choice test as a basis for evoking students' arguments concerning defensible answers and reasons they are defensible. (JAD)

A comparison of 28 mildly mentally retarded children with 28 children of average intelligence (mean mental age six years) in learning conservation skills found both groups benefited from Direct Instruction methods, but retarded children acquired only pseudoconservation from Observational Learning methods. Their learning was not tenacious and did…

Cognitive performance can be improved through the explicit instruction of strategies that produce good performance. Variations in the ability to access knowledge relevant to specific materials that might affect strategy use, students' perceptions of strategies, and strategy maintenance are considered. (TJH)