This study examined the relative importance of curricular, classroom, and out-of-class experiences on learning related attitudes and values of freshman college students after taking into account certain precollege characteristics of new students, including initial levels of interest in learning. Specifically, the study looked at students' formal…

This Missouri Vocational Instructional Management System module offers a description of both instructional and cognitive strategies for special needs students and suggestions for their use in a variety of classrooms. Fourteen definitions, 13 frequently asked questions, 5 resources, and 21 references are included. The following questions are…

This paper analyzes the implications of a school's physcial environment for children's development. Its purpose is to draw the attention of educators to the implications of the physical environment for the child's development and to invite them to participate in the process whereby the design program of schools is formulated. The paper presents…

The teaching of critical thinking is discussed, based on the view that methods of teaching critical thinking vary from discipline to discipline. After covering basic concepts related to teaching critical thinking, a framework to examine the process of critical thinking is presented, based on cognitive science and developmental theory, especially…

Ways to prepare and present lectures that hold college students' attention and involve them in the teaching-learning process are discussed. Attention is focused on linguistic, rhetorical, and psychological aspects of classroom communication; common communication problems in the classroom; and how to overcome and avoid communication problems.…

In support of the premise that a better understanding of the causes of poor student motivation may lead to the development of techniques to stop unmotivated students from dropping out of college, this paper reviews the literature on the nature of motivation among adolescents and factors influencing academic achievement. After introductory comments…

This guide focuses on 14 instructor competencies identified by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction. It provides examples, job aids, worksheets, case studies, and sample dialogs and contains actual experiences and critical incidents faced by trainers who participated in the survey study. Strategies to…

Describes a fourth grade teacher's interdisciplinary efforts at imparting the joys of archaeology to her students. The students read fiction and non-fiction materials about the physical environments and participated in a series of hands-on learning activities. These involved simulated archaeological digs, personal artifacts, and realia. (MJP)

Discusses the "flashback" method of history instruction that begins with analyzing specific, current conditions and then traces their historical evolution. This method allows students to feel connected to the subject while participating in its historical investigation. Compares the "flashback" and the traditional chronological…

Recent empirical research has identified significant advantages for interactive video instruction over traditional teaching methods in "soft skill" (humanities and social sciences) areas, including cognitive achievement, transfer of learning to performance, learning motivation, student achievement across uncontrolled student characteristics, user…

The purpose of this manual, which accompanies a video program, is to provide general background information for foreign language teachers who are, or soon will be, teaching in total, partial, or two-way immersion classrooms. Part of a series of video programs, this manual highlights current theories, issues, and questions about second language…

A study in Finland investigated the relationship of two general aspects of student motivation for second language learning (preference for challenge and curiosity) and motivation specific to the learning situation. Subjects were 292 sixth-graders and 301 eighth-graders, who performed two open and two closed English vocabulary tasks in two…

Motivation towards English learning in Japanese schools today is analyzed according to John Condry and James Chambers' process-of-learning paradigm. The four stages of learning (initial engagement, process, disengagement, and re-engagement) are shown to emit different processes of learning in students based on whether learning is intrinsically or…

Written from the perspective that the technology available for language study can be better used, a discussion of television use in second language instruction looks at imaginative uses of the medium for a variety of instructional purposes. The first section identifies opportunities for the use of television, including: as a motivator; in teaching…

The digest summarizes major characteristics of American Indian student needs in the disciplines of science and math and offers constructive ways in which students may be motivated for greater achievement. Motivational, attitudinal, and behavioral factors contributing to avoidance of science and math by American Indian students are identified:…