Utilizes the psychological and sociocultural components of a constructivist paradigm to provide a detailed analysis of how the cognitive constructions students make as they enumerate 3D arrays of cubes develop and change in an inquiry-based, problem-centered mathematics classroom. Describes the classroom work of three pairs of 5th-grade students…

Theorizes the learning orientations of beginning science teachers and how these orientations interact with the structure of teacher-education programs based on a case study of one preservice science teacher's reflections on his experiences during teacher preparation. Contains 23 references. (WRM)

Results of two experiments involving 35 college students and 96 junior high school students studying spontaneous cognitions after receiving test results or taking a test show that success triggers evaluative cognitions while failure triggers attributions, particularly in uncertain situations.(SLD)

Reviews various studies on childs play and its relation to young childrens development in music learning processes and explores the role that cognitive and social play categories have in studying childrens play with music. Provides strategies for initiating music-play opportunities in a preschool classroom. (CMK)

Describes an experience using a computer simulation on air resistance. There appeared to be differences in how students approach learning in interactive physics learning environments with and without the simulation. (Contains over 20 references.) (Author/WRM)

Discusses problems of learning English by students from Papua New Guinea, suggesting teachers restructure accepted assumptions about teaching and learning in English to more appropriately meet needs of students from different cultures. Argues many of these language problems are associated with lack of equivalence between concepts of academic…

The 11 chapters of this theme issue explore important issues that relate cognitive style to educational concerns. They link cognitive style with reading comprehension, parental teaching, family qualities, teaching, distance learning, strategic learning, socialization, and athletic performance. (SLD)

Reanalyzes pretest and posttest interviews from a large classroom study using a situated cognition framework. Concludes that cognition is a dynamic process that changes in different ways over shorter and longer time scales. Contains 40 references. (DDR)

Reports findings from a study that investigated the group interaction patterns of overseas Malaysian students in a British undergraduate program. Discusses the theoretical issues underlying the study. Findings and categories of idea framing, which arise from the analysis of group interaction data are highlighted. (Author/VWL)

Compared the processing of rapid auditory stimuli on two-tone auditory discrimination tasks by 7- to 11-year-olds with learning impairments (LI) and those without learning impairments (non-LI). Found that LI children committed more errors, but the effects of timing were comparable. Obtained same results with a sample of good and poor readers. Task…

Extended and tested Deutsch's theory of competition effects. Predicted that people view competitive situations as inherently more aggressive than cooperative ones. Predicted that leading people to think of an aggressive situation in competitive terms would increase aggressive behavior. Increase of kill ratio occurred in absence of changes in…

Participant observation study explored social interactions and friendships among cognitively impaired adult day-care participants. Found clients engage in a variety of social interactions and friendships, enabling them to maintain a sense of self and to adjust to group norms. Discussed general socializing, enduring friendships, helping…

The word-learning ability of 12 school-age subjects with moderate or severe mental retardation was assessed. Subjects used the System for Augmenting Language with visual-graphic symbols for communication. Ability to fast map novel symbols was found to relate to symbol achievement status. Implications for vocabulary acquisition by youth with mental…

Describes a study conducted with kindergartners and second graders that examined developmental differences in children's production and recall of information presented via a computer presentation. Highlights include children's information processing skills; action and verbal labels; story versus list formats; and production and recall scores.…

Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE) is a database system in which learners collaboratively construct the knowledge represented in the database. This study examines how students in a grade-five and -six classroom built their database on a science topic, electricity. Differences in cognitive and operative activities between…