Analysis of naturalistic data identified features of adult-child talk which occurred frequently at school but rarely at home. One of these features--question sequences intended to elicit an answer--was used in an intervention study and was found to promote young children's understanding of ambiguity in verbal messages. (PCB)

This paper describes an empirical study of fun, usability, and learning in educational software. Twenty five children aged 7 and 8 from an English primary school participated. The study involved three software products that were designed to prepare children for government initiated science tests. Pre and post tests were used to measure the…

Expressing the desire that geography should be a more challenging subject that helps pupils to become better learners, a group of academic geographers and geography teachers from northeast England developed teaching strategies to stimulate pupils to think through geography. Teachers in England and the Netherlands report that these strategies are…

Using the generative model of learning, this study investigates the effects of reader constructed text headings on readers' text recall and comprehension. One hundred pupils, ages 12-14, from the Blythe Bridge Comprehensive School, Staffordshire, England, were assigned to one of two treatment groups using a 1000-word passage. The experimental…

The main goal of this research was to assess whether it is possible to help children develop their general understanding of emotions. Thirty-six nine-year-old children divided in two groups were examined using a pre-test/train/post-test design. The emotion understanding of the two groups was measured in the pre- and post-test phases using the Test…

Describes a project in England that used interactive drama with student nurses to promote healthy behavior with secondary school pupils concerning sexual relations. Highlights include pretests and posttests, secondary pupil attitudes and student nurse attitudes, and gender differences in responses by pupils. (Author/LRW)

Describes attempts to instruct 12 children, aged between 10 and 11, during a 12-hour course in LOGO that proper attention should be paid to the external angles through which the turtle rotated. Results suggest that using LOGO to draw closed figures may lead to confusions about angle that are not amenable to conventional intervention techniques…

This paper describes a community's attempts to raise the knowledge and awareness of environmental issues of early years pupils through the use of "Environmental Story Sacks". The results of the small scale evaluation, using a pre and post activity oral "cloze" exercise, showed that reception year pupils' response scores to…

A test of predicted anxiety which focused on public speaking was given before and after two life skills courses in an English college. The students' own reports and observations by the author supported the results, which indicated a reduction of anxiety in the course which used simulations. (Author/LRW)

Reviews and analyzes criticisms of the design of media evaluation studies; suggests guidelines for future evaluation studies, including analyses of learning theories and desired learning outcomes; and describes the application of the evaluative guidelines to an interactive video in an English comprehensive school with 14-year-olds. (Contains 26…

Describes study which investigated peer interaction in relation to microcomputer use with 11- and 12-year-old children in a comprehensive secondary school in England. Highlights include the use of micro-PROLOG, a questionnaire to test students' attitudes towards computers, gender differences, and pretest and posttest results. (LRW)

Ratings were made of childrens' verbal-social behavior by nursery nurses and teachers in day nurseries, nursery schools, and combined nursery centers. These ratings were analyzed for group differences, and validity was assessed by comparing ratings with observations of the children's behavior and scores on two language tests. (RH)

Clarifies definitions of simulation, game, drama, and exercise, and describes a study of 17- to 19-year-old students which was designed to determine their public speaking anxiety level after using seven classroom simulations to prepare them for the experience. Students' personal development and behavior throughout the experience are discussed.…

Describes an integrated series of computer-assisted reading (CAR) materials under development at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The discussion indicates some of the problems in teaching reading with computers, describes the framework of the CAR project, and gives specific examples of activities. (SED)

The UK-I-Can Program is an adaptation of the Amer-I-Can Program, introduced in 1988 to help individuals meet their full potential and improve the quality of their lives. The focus of the program is equipping young people with life management skills necessary to lead fulfilling and productive lives, based on the belief that individuals' self-esteem…