Background: In the context of the British Government's policy directed on improving standards in schools, this paper presents research on the effects of a programme intended to promote the cognitive development of children in the first 2 years of primary school (Y1 & 2, aged 5-7 years). The programme is based on earlier work dealing with…

When asked what they would find most helpful to enable them to use technologies more in their teaching, most teachers say "give me examples, in my subject area" and "point me to relevant people I can discuss these issues with". Web 2.0 technologies--with their emphasis on sharing, networking and user production--seem to offer a…

The use of the "keyword" method as a tool for improving memory in learning disabled students is explained. The keyword method consists of two stages: an acoustical link stage and a stage in which the student is provided with a picture of the keyword interacting with the appropriate response term. The method can be modified for use in…

Advocates the performance of live drama by teachers in the classroom as a method of promoting immediacy and involvement. Describes one such performance and student responses to the experience. (Author/DH)

A simple lesson on magnetism can foster childrens' natural enthusiasm for science and set the stage for discoveries that parallel those of famous scientists. (JD)

A teacher describes an incident involving his fifth-grade class and an angry elderly woman. He points out that the event became a learning experience in standing up for one's rights, tenacity, respect for others, compassion, and responsibility for the elderly. (JD)

Presents evidence from the memory development literature showing why strategies and metaknowledge are not sufficient factors to account for memory development. Summarizes current research on the influence of the general knowledge base, including general world-knowledge and domain-specific knowledge and procedures. Discusses questions that must be…

What should be done to improve the critical thinking skills of preservice and inservice teachers is outlined. (MT)

A teacher offers six suggestions for giving students opportunities to exercise their commonsense thinking skills. This allows the teacher to ask rather than tell, listen rather than talk, and allows the children to provide for themselves. (MT)

Although the application and acceptance of qualitative research have increased over the last decade, there is little empirical information about how one should learn qualitative methods. This paper describes a reflective strategy for learning the methods of qualitative research that draws on experience in a graduate qualitative methods course and…

This article describes LEARN, a five-step plan to help students with disabilities succeed on tests. The steps include listen for hints, clues, and important information; examine notes, books, and papers; apply study and memory strategies; review every night; and nail the test. The benefits to using this approach are reviewed. (CR)

Discusses learning strategies for preparing for tests. Highlights the importance of organization of knowledge and reviewing. (JRH)

Studied whether a recently developed mnemonic strategy could be used more independently by middle school students. Results of 2 studies involving 48 and 70 seventh graders show that students did not create their own memory-enhancing visual images in the absence of instructor-provided interactive drawings. Results support the view that less…

Reports on a qualitative study conducted in the Japanese foreign language context about good foreign language learners, in which strategy use is analyzed in 67 books reporting on "how I have learned a foreign language." Results suggest that there are strategies especially favored in the Japanese foreign language context and that the issue of some…

Considers how preceding articles by Jansen and van der Maas, and Halford et al., contribute to understanding of how rule use can be best assessed, how systematic rule use can be reconciled with variable rule use, when children begin to use rules, and how children generate new rules. Summarizes current understanding of development of knowledge…