Explains task definition which is the first stage in the Big 6, an approach to information and technology skills instruction. Highlights include defining the problem; identifying the information requirements of the problem; transferability from curriculum-based problems to everyday tasks; and task definition logs kept by students. (LRW)

Describes the use of batch-oriented computing as the basis for reintroducing homework problems as a teaching tool in beginning chemistry instruction. Stems from and expands upon a system used in a university setting that produces, delivers, grades, and keeps records for homework problems. (DDR)

Presents an interdisciplinary unit in which students ask questions about themselves, gather data, and participate in statistical analysis and graphing activities related to the data. Contains an assessment instrument and data sheet example. (DDR)

Among 10 high school seniors in a small rural high school, even the highest achievers felt that standardized testing did not adequately measure their abilities. Briefly describes various learning styles, discusses multiple intelligences, and recommends that teachers adapt instruction to students' learning styles to improve student motivation and…

Presents strategies for encouraging dialog with students from eliciting preconceptions to bringing closure to a unit. Includes the general structure of an instructional unit that employs dialog, strategies for teachers to use, and strategies for students which include active listening. (DDR)

Presents a play for students in grades four to nine that incorporates the scientific names, physical characteristics, feeding habits, interactions, and interdependence of the plants and animals that make up the Great Lakes food web to facilitate the learning of this complex system. Includes a Great Lakes food web chart. (AIM)

Evaluates the importance of realism in the screen presentation of the plant in computer-based laboratory simulations for part-time engineering students. Concludes that simulations are less effective than actual laboratories but that realism minimizes the disadvantages. The schematic approach was preferred for ease of use. (AIM)

This article offers specific strategies to diagnose and remediate difficulties students may have in learning multiplication facts. Analyzes strategies students use to go from a known fact to an unknown fact. The point is made that, for many students, the order of interpretation of a number fact may affect accuracy. (DB)

Seventy-one successful adults with learning disabilities were studied to identify success strategies that could be used in teaching children with learning disabilities to boost their achievement. Identified strategies included preparation, desire to succeed, goal orientation, persistence, and learned creativity. For each strategy, specific…

Examined the relationship between achievement and learning styles of middle school students. Subjects were chosen from one urban middle school and were asked to complete the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Dunn & Dunn Learning Style Inventory. Found that traditional classroom settings may not provide sufficient environmental options to enable…

Describes an effective technique that teaches middle school students three patterns of organization extensively used by textbook authors and lecturing teachers: chronological order, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. (SR)

Discusses the validity of the most widely employed second language learning strategy questionnaire, the English-as-a-Second-Language/English-as-a-Foreign-Language version of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning). Details appropriate uses and limitations of questionnaires for strategy assessment. (80 references) (Author/CK)

Probes validity issues of computer-assisted strategy assessment in second language acquisition research. Reviews metacognitive and cognitive strategies, discussing trait-oriented and interactionist approaches in the concept of strategy, and examining validity by focusing on "advance preparation" and "resourcing" examples of…

Examines the claim that some students of English as a Second Language allow English reflexives to be bound by long-distance (LD) antecedents even when such LD binding is underdetermined for these learners with respect to their first-language grammar(s) and the second-language input. The article discusses why the claim's underlying data do not…

Research on the effects of teaching study strategies, in situations where students could choose study methods used in everyday courses, is reviewed. Among the few studies meeting rigorous criteria, none investigated whether students could adapt study tactics beyond the training context. Cautious recommendations are made for concept mapping,…