Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

Discussion of constructivism that is based on concerns raised in an earlier issue focuses on demands placed on the learners. Three areas are explored: (1) cognitive complexity; (2) task management, to help sequence students through a learning experience; and (3) learners "buying in" to the constructivist agenda of the instruction. (10…

Responds to Ellis (1996), who claims that much of first- and second-language acquisition is sequence learning and can be explained in terms of connectionist theory. This article does not disagree with the substance of Ellis's article but rather the extent to which his model can be applied to many aspects of natural languages. (six references) (CK)

Disagrees with Ellis's claim (1996) that learning the grammatical word class of a particular word, and learning grammatical structures more generally, involves in "large part" the automatic implicit analysis of the word's sequential position. The article maintains that some grammatical acquisition, but not "vast amounts," derives from the analysis…

Shows how elaboration theory (ET) sequences the concepts in a taxonomy and argues that the product of an ET analysis is usually in general agreement with sequencing based on learning prerequisite relationships, and that ET sequencing of taxonomic concepts will not violate learning prerequisite relationships. (Author/MER)

Examines existing research and instructional design theories for guidelines that encourage a deep approach to learning, i.e., meaningful learning, critical thinking, or independent learning. Highlights include sequencing strategies and elaboration theory, linking concepts, student misconceptions, changing the attitudes of teachers, and projects…

Which words should students master in spelling? Language arts teachers can involve pupils in planning a list of words to learn to spell through a specific activity or experience, with sequentially planned lists aiding each learner to become a better speller. Pupil-teacher planning to determine scope and sequence in the spelling curriculum should…

Drawing from basic assumptions about learning and critical thinking skills, this paper suggests a teaching method for helping community college students to use their critical thinking capacity in their college courses. First, a series of assumptions commonly held by teachers about the nature of learning are presented, and contrasted with…

In this article, the author discusses his contention that even the best of the best of American schools are not quality schools. He also observes that the curriculum that has been in place since 1892 was the main reason why schools cannot offer the best in quality education. He cites the ten problems that have plagued the American educational…

Explores the mismatch between pedagogical intentions and learner outcomes and argues for learner centeredness as a central (yet relative) concept. Ways in which the relationship between teachers and learners and teaching and learning can be strengthened, e.g., experiential content, language content, and learning process, are explored, and examples…