In this article, the author examines the character of the conversations generated in an elementary teacher group as they worked on mathematical problems together and analyzed their students' work. Two distinct forms of talk--"exploratory" and "expository"--were found. The first type of talk occurred most prominently when discussions centered on…

This monograph presents articles on interactive videodisc technology in language learning, ranging from the importance of a theoretical framework, the transition from theory to practice, getting started, design considerations, hypermedia, discovery environments, authoring software, workstation environments, and a look at the future of optical disc…

A discussion of computer-assisted language learning focuses on management of individual learning processes. As distinct from a reference package, a computer-assisted teaching program has to assure that the student acquires and retains the complete information in the most efficient way, provide accurate and useful material, and pique the student's…

Growing Ideas, the National Gardening Association's series for elementary, middle, and junior high school educators, helps teachers engage students in using plants and gardens as contexts for developing a deeper, richer understanding of the world around them. This volume's focus is on hydroponics. It presents basic hydroponics information along…

This paper focuses on issues of representation and interaction styles that are relevant considerations in the design and analysis of hypermedia learning environments. Analysis is supported by examples from the "HUGH" series of studies involving learners in reasoning about formal hypermedia representations. The representational issues include…

Demonstration of chemical reactions is a tool used in the teaching of inorganic descriptive chemistry to enable students to understand the fundamental concepts of chemistry through the use of concrete examples. For maximum benefit, students need to learn through discovery to observe, interpret, hypothesize, and draw conclusions; however, chemical…

Children develop investigative skills, a spirit of inquiry, and an understanding of science within an educational context of first-hand experience and purposeful play. This article explores the issue of quality in science instruction for young children, placing it within the larger framework of quality in early childhood education. The article…

Based on Montessori's ideas about children's innate capabilities and potential, this book encourages restructuring the home environment to provide children, especially preschool children, with opportunities for self-directed activities and personal autonomy. In each of the chapters, a different room is examined as to how it could be redesigned to…

This conference paper reports on research related to inquiry and how to infuse this approach into teacher training for pre-service elementary teachers. By using personal experiences of a three month visit to California elementary schools and a driving tour of England, these experiences are correlated to inquiry training with a model adapted from…

This study compared the effects of instructor-provided vs. learner-generated analyses of semantic relationships between major concepts on structural knowledge acquisition in an introductory psychology course. One group explained the relationships on instructor-provided graphic organizers; the other group classified relationships between concepts…

This book offers alternative approaches for local hiking events, such as creating extensive science, math or art projects, in order to energize a group of children. Chapter 1, "Getting Started," provides details on planning a hike, including getting supports, managing materials, setting the tone, questioning techniques, basic ecological…

History and the social sciences can be defined as recorded narratives or stories about the past or present that describe change and continuity over time and seek to explain this change and continuity through a series of cause and effect propositions based on evidence and shaped by the scholar's social frame of reference. In social studies there…

The effects of rule knowledge were investigated using Braille inkprint pairs. Both recognition and recall were studied in three groups of subjects: rule knowledge, rule discovery, and no rule. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) that the group exposed to the rule would score better than would a discovery group and a control group; and (2) that all…

This report presents preliminary descriptive data from a national survey of U.S. elementary schools, conducted in 1985, which focused on the schools' instructional uses of computers, including efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Specific topic areas covered include: (1) what hardware is in different types of schools; (2) which teachers use the…

Inconsistencies in the use of terminology to describe instructional treatments, confounding of discovery and expository methods with other aspects of instruction, and inconsistencies in defining independent and dependent variables within and between studies have all contributed to the lack of definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of…