The importance of balancing content instruction with instruction in higher level thinking skills for gifted students is emphasized. The article recommends providing students with sophisticated content, relating that content to essential underlying generalizations and principles, and then concentrating on thinking skills. (SW)

Twelve secondary preservice teachers participated in a study designed to assess the developments and changes in preservice science teachers' subject matter and pedagogy knowledge structures as they proceeded through a professional teacher education program. Results indicated that pedagogy knowledge structure had a primary influence on…

The literature on novice-expert shifts in teacher knowledge is examined from the perspective of constructivist learning theory with a view to identifying lessons for teacher educators. Limitations in teacher knowledge are explored, and three requirements are outlined for a research agenda on teacher's learning. (SLD)

An argument for the role of a structural syllabus as a means to promote "gradual mastery" of implicit second-language knowledge is refuted. The author responds with further discussion of the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge. (Contains 13 references.) (LB)

Examines the debate over what early care and education personnel need to know and how to go about getting that information. Lists and categorizes professional development activities as formal/informal information gathering; information sharing; self-assessment; experimentation; and organization. Emphasizes professional development as a dynamic,…

A survey of 628 educators examined opinions about the role and performance of school speech-language pathologists. Overall, responses indicated positive opinions about speech-language pathologist services, but some uncertainty about their roles with certain student groups and the adequacy of their training in behavior management, reading,…

Whether the effectiveness of additional mathematics instruction could be improved by new materials for students and interactive teaching was studied with 24 female business administration students and 19 female controls. Results indicate that proper use of the newly developed materials helped improve the application of mathematics knowledge in…

Examined the impact of information activation on individuals in different mood states. Results of two experiments suggest that happy mood supports judgmental inferences based on general knowledge structures, whereas sad mood facilitates the conservation of information. Findings support assertions that affective states influence the style of…

Presents a study on Illinois library directors' knowledge of the American Library Association's (ALA) Code of Ethics; 180 questionnaires (out of 252) were returned. Results suggest that a segment of the library profession is aware of the ALA Code of Ethics and is strongly supportive of the statements therein. (Author/AEF)

An optimal unbiased classification rule is proposed based on a longitudinal model for the measurement of change in ability. In general, the rule predicts future level of knowledge by using information about level of knowledge at entrance, its rate of growth, and the amount of within-individual variation. (SLD)

Reports a study that examined changes in heterosexual college students' concerns and fears about AIDS and homophobia between 1985 and 1992. Repeated surveys indicated that students' AIDS knowledge and personal worry about HIV infection increased. There were no changes in homophobia. Interest in AIDS education increased, then leveled off.…

A community-based, case-control study conducted in rural Nigeria with 132 pregnant girls and 131 nonpregnant girls the same age found that pregnancy was largely associated with the completion of formal education at an early age and the lack of knowledge of reproductive health. (SLD)

This survey of 53 students (ages 13-15) at a Leeds (England) secondary school found confusion between mental and physical handicap, confusion between mental handicap and mental illness, and confusion about causes of mental retardation. Most students felt that persons with mental handicap belonged in the community. (JDD)

Illustrated vignettes, some containing an ambiguous reference to the illustration, were presented to kindergartners and second and fourth graders. Variations in presentation tested the effects of question sequence, of delay between ambiguous reference and interrogation, and of the complication of the illustration on children's ability to detect…

In a study of beliefs and construction of knowledge, undergraduate and graduate education students responded to open- ended statements and a list of similes describing what teachers, students, and classrooms were like. Results suggests that the simile list responses were valid reflections of the subjects' personal metaphors. (32 references)…