Analyzes one teacher's attempts to implement innovative assessment practices and a meaningful science curriculum that encouraged learning, in the face of traditional assessment expectations. Focuses on three dilemmas: maintaining student accountability in cooperative learning situations, evaluating lower-ability students on fixed standards while…

A study (n=510) investigated students' cognitive and noncognitive variables predicting success and persistence in an undergraduate engineering program. Students performing well in science and mathematics and genuinely interested in engineering were more likely to persist and succeed. Predictor variables changed over the students' first two years.…

Studied the motivation and psychosocial needs of students in a General English classroom who were not connecting with the main coursebook. Results of a questionnaire revealed the learners' recognition of their needs and uncovered the problem's source and materials designed for solution. Course and materials design can be based directly on needs…

Studies the early childhood classroom as a setting for the continuing development of communication, cognition, and social skills for language minority students. Because the integration of language and content is best done through the use of children's literature, weekly literary selections motivate student interest and stimulate oral and written…

Discusses strategies for teaching Spanish to students with learning disabilities. These strategies include using flexible materials and alternative assessment methods, accepting individual students and ascertaining their disabilities, adapting to student needs, using a multisensory approach, and teaching students study skills particular to…

Compared attitudes of children in child-centered preschools and kindergartens with those of children in didactic, highly academic programs in terms achievement and motivation. Compared to children in child-centered programs, children in didactic programs rated their abilities significantly lower, had lower expectations for success on academic…

Contends that the success or failure of an undergraduate research project can hinge on one or two decisions made at an early stage in the process. Describes a "Snakes and Ladders" board game used to remind students of good and bad research design practices. Includes game rules and a listing of the good and bad practices. (CFR)

Multi-Media Detectives was a project where fifth graders in three Michigan school districts were linked to a children's bulletin board. The goal was to have students "think global but link local" by using online resources to search for local facts and local celebrities and to bring them to life via technology. (JMV)

Four eighth and ninth graders with learning problems were studied, focusing on their learning environments, learning behavior, and subjective experiences in the classroom. Ego-involvement and self-protective behaviors were noted. Results are discussed in terms of self-worth theory and motivation theory. (SLD)

Compares American and German educational system structures, emphasizing organizational and curricular features of school- and work-based preparation for the labor market. The countries have fundamentally different school to work transition models which significantly affect their students. The article makes recommendations for improving both…

Discusses the need to create a learning environment in the computer lab that encourages students to "dabble." Benefits include increased student motivation, help for special needs students, and a decrease in truancy. Presents answers to possible objections to this form of student-directed learning and provides tips for running a lab efficiently.…

Describes the effort of a middle-school teacher to incorporate heterogeneous grouping into her math class. One day per week, heterogeneously grouped math students worked in teams to solve and present solutions to different kinds of logic problems. Suggests that flexibility and freedom to be creative are the keys for incorporating new ideas into…

Suggestions are offered for implementing a collaborative approach to teaching self-questioning and applying this approach to foster the self-regulated learner. Collaborative self-questioning was used in two settings: with adults who were poor readers and with fourth- and fifth-grade students with learning and language disabilities. (SW)

Reports on the case of a university student studying English as a Second Language who disliked the informal writing of dialogue journals. Implications from the case suggest the need for researchers and practitioners to consider students' perspectives when employing nontraditional writing assignments. (53 references) (Author/CK)

Explored the influences of teacher education on musical curriculum related to young children's responses to music. The findings showed that during a music activity, children attended to their teachers, that children's responses to music differed according to their age, and that teaching a music curriculum to early childhood caregivers does make a…