Examines the relationship between high school students' perceptions of their science learning environments and their motivation, learning strategies, and achievement. Discusses the focus of shared perceptions and instruction and indicates that shared perceptions focused on understanding and independent thinking positively predicted students'…

Examines the relationships between organic chemistry achievement and a number of cognitive and noncognitive variables, and explores whether gender differences existed for any of these relationships. Concludes that general chemistry grade, ACT-math score, and motivation are significant predictors of organic chemistry achievement. Indicates gender…

Explores challenges of learning to think about data as signal and noise. Examines the signal/noise metaphor in the context of three different statistical processes: (1) repeated measures; (2) measuring individuals; and (3) dichotomous events. Makes several recommendations for research and instruction on the basis of this analysis. (Author/KHR)

Examined the results of at-risk students' participation in a learning strategies tutorial concurrently with enrollment in general biology. Results were mixed, but refinement of the tutorial in a follow-up study showed positive changes in learning behavior and higher final grades than at-risk control group students. (EV)

Defines problem-based learning (PBL) as an instructional method in which problems provide the context for students to develop skills and knowledge. Describes a study that examined whether students perceived that PBL courses were more effective than non-PBL courses at helping them develop specific outcomes. Reports that PBL students' perception of…

Discusses a program to improve library instruction at Rider University (New Jersey) and reports on a pilot assessment. Topics include problems with assessment; student assessment tools; and five standards based on ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) standards that were designed to improve teaching methods to address learning…

Describes the cognitive processes required to troubleshoot faults and describes an architecture based on that cognitive model for designing learning environments that engage novices in troubleshooting while supporting their construction of requisite knowledge. This model can be applied to different kinds of troubleshooting problems, enhancing the…

Shows that students with styles of learning favoring a deemphasis on human relationships and an emphasis on deductive thinking rated themselves higher academically than did their peers with other styles of learning and that students who were people-oriented had the lowest overall academic self-assessment. (SR)

Questions why imagination is not brought into mainstream education as a cornerstone of learning and why education frequently makes students incapable of relating to what is alive and meaningful within themselves. Without imagination, it is impossible to experience the infinite qualities of our senses, nor to shape our thoughts and images of these…

Describes a method for teaching multiplication of fractions based on Piaget's constructivism. Instead of teaching the algorithm of multiplying the numerators and denominators, students are presented with many problems and ask to invent their own ways of solving them. (DDR)

Examines the effectiveness of using questions to facilitate processing of diagrams in science texts. Investigates three different elements in experiments on college students. Finds that questions about illustrations do not facilitate learning. Discusses findings with reference to cognitive load theory, the dual coding perspective, and the…

A study of three fifth-grade students with learning disabilities examined the effectiveness of a strategy deigned to help them become more reflective when writing opinion essays. Following the instruction, students wrote essays that were longer, provided more support for their premise, and were qualitatively better. (Author/CR)

This study examined the contributions of instruction in goal setting and self-instruction on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of a reading comprehension strategy by 47 students (grades 4-6) with learning disabilities. Results indicate that instruction in goal setting and self-instruction did not augment the comprehension…

Recent research in mathematics instruction underscores the importance of problem solving and higher-level thinking. This article presents four themes in instruction for students with learning disabilities: (1) provide a broad, balanced mathematics curriculum; (2) engage students in meaningful problem tasks; (3) accommodate diverse learning styles;…

The facilitative effect of incorporating echolalia on teaching receptive naming of Chinese characters to four Hong Kong children (ages 8-10) with autism was assessed. Results from two experiments indicated echolalia was the active component contributing to the successful acquisition and maintenance of receptive naming of Chinese characters.…