Suggests ways for the instructor to turn evaluation into an open-ended transaction with the student writer rather than a final pronouncement. Suggests that teachers should ask questions of the writer to clarify the rhetorical situation and goal, give the student one piece of advice per paper, and help the student set a reasonable goal for each…

The literature on the moral judgment and moral development of mentally retarded individuals is reviewed. The relative contribution of mental age, chronological age, cognitive functioning, social experience, and environmental factors to the moral characteristics of this population is discussed. (Author/RM)

Keyword mnemonics compares favorably to other devices for learning words in a foreign language. The keyword approach provides both an acoustic link between a native-language word and the second-language word and an image of the keyword interacting with the native-language word or phrase. (LMO)

Describes a study of 323 fifth and sixth grade students which was conducted in Australia to examine cognitive processing of gifted children compared with normal and above average ability children. Highlights include the role of planning in cognition, tests used, and a factor analysis of results. Fifty-one references are listed. (Author/LRW)

Examines some of the research and development implications of classroom computer use for educational psychology. Considers the implications of further developments in tutorial uses, reading instruction, and facilitation of thinking. (RKM)

Investigation of the extent to which young bilingual children's code differentiation correlated with language mixing revealed that children who avoided using their other language when naming pictures of objects which were not known in one of the languages showed significantly less mixing in their speech than children who freely substituted words…

Discusses the commonly held misconceptions on heat and examines potential contributing factors. Defines and provides examples of internal energy and heat. Suggests approaches to the teaching of heat for secondary level students. (ML)

Describes a program for teaching college writing in which students analyze their own videotaped speeches as a class in order to become more aware of the composition process. Argues that the emphasis on audience feedback enhances revision, persuasion, and reader orientation and makes concepts of English composition more concrete. (JG)

Reports a study which examined objective ratings of the moral issues expressed in the Defining Issues Test (DIT) items in relation to verbal reports of the reasoning with which those ratings were generated. Finds that differences in the educational level of the subjects were significant. A case is made for verbal assessment of information on…

Studies the effects of two comprehension training methods (one based on imagery and inferencing, the other based on text structure) on various aspects of third and fifth graders' reading performance. Results indicate that neither method had a measurable impact on reading comprehension nor on metacognitive knowledge of the reading process. (RS)

Reviews two software programs for Apple series computers. Includes "Orbital Mech," a basic planetary orbital simulation for the Macintosh, and "START: Stimulus and Response Tools for Experiments in Memory, Learning, Cognition, and Perception," a program that demonstrates basic psychological principles and experiments. (CW)

Identifies and discusses the epistemological roots of various terms that have been used to describe student conceptions in the literature with a view to suggest which term science eductors should adopt. Argues that "alternative conceptions" is preferable to "alternative frameworks" for use in describing student conceptions in…

Suggests that those who evaluate textbooks for adoption in schools use a framework such as the one included, which examines writing style, tone, analogies and illustrations, sentence and paragraph coherence, headings and subheadings, and location of charts, graphs, and figures. (JC)

Presents a decision model for planning learner feedback in distance education courses with emphasis on college-level teaching. Knowledge components in information processing models of learning are described, task analysis for learning from text is discussed in terms of comprehension, and criteria for designing learner feedback are examined. (LRW)

Analyzes and compares the exploration, play, and problem-solving activities of typically developing (average) and at-risk infants when they manipulate novel objects. (BB)