A study was conducted to determine the effects of applying the "Swassing/Barbe Modality Index" (SBMI), an instrument for identifying a student's strongest learning modality, to achieve higher accuracy on spelling lessons and tests. The SBMI was administered to 17 special education students in a class of seven second grade and ten third…

A recent finding that good and poor readers may bring different response patterns to the reading task comes from a pilot study in which so-called good readers achieved a higher score on a comprehension test than did poor readers, even when they had not had a paragraph or story to read as a basis for answering the questions. This study was a more…

Third-grade students were exposed to a literature passage, The Red Carpet, via one of three modes of presentation. The teacher read aloud from a book, showed a filmstrip, or showed a film. A listening retention test was administered, and results showed that the differences were statistically insignificant. (Author/GDC)

Differences in how the two hemispheres of the brain handle spatial information were studied with blind subjects and blindfolded sighted subjects. The performances of all groups declined as the relative disorientation between the target and its duplicate increased, suggesting that visual imagery is not crucial to mental rotation. (Author/SEW)

In experiment one, subjects learned a word list in blocked or random forms of auditory/visual change. In experiment two, high- and low-conceptual rigid subjects read passages in shift conditions or nonshift, exclusively in auditory or visual modes. A shift in modality provided a powerful release from proactive interference. (Author/CM)

Studies whether presentations by an iconic system (pictures) or a linguistic system (print or audio) aid learning. Tests given fourth-to-sixth graders showed alternation between systems, using each to assimilate information. Learning was not as effective when content differed between the systems and this information was presented simultaneously…

Children were individually administered the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) Test and the Haptic Matching Task. Impulsives received either reflective scanning strategy training or control procedures and were retested. Visual training decreased errors only on the MFF and increased latency on both tasks. Haptic training decreased errors and increased…

Compressed speech research indicates that auditory aids may help poor readers. Low achieving sophomores were given the option of listening to tapes of their social studies text while reading. Results are presented on numbers choosing to use the tapes and those whose test scores improved. (SJL)

Results of a study in which first graders learned ten unfamiliar function words in two different formats indicated that sentence readers learned more about the syntactic and semantic identities of function words, whereas list readers remembered their orthographic identities better and could pronounce the words faster and more accurately in…

Four experiments were carried out to examine the different recall strategies employed in a diagnostic test of visual sequential memory. The principal implication of the results is that good and poor readers may not differ with respect to visual memory but in their ability to employ a verbal labeling strategy. (Author/KC)

Thirteen New York City third graders and 72 sixth graders completed a state reading test and the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) by Dunn, Dunn, and Price. Eleven LSI variables accounted for significant differences between high and low achievers in reading. Variables include preferred learning environment, learning modalities, and personality…

Analyzes effectiveness of learning communities (LCs), which deliberately restructure the curriculum to build a community of learners among students and faculty. Reports that, although LCs have been praised, there continues to be a lively debate among community college educators as they examine and assess how LCs might best help them serve…

Investigates whether introduction of music reading activities during beginning instrumental music instruction impedes student's development of aural musicianship and instrumental performance skills because of the division of attention between aural and visual activities. Concludes that music reading activities do not adversely affect the…

This paper summarizes a research project conducted to investigate the strategies developed by middle school students to solve a route-finding problem using Arc View GIS software. Three different types of route-finding strategies were identified. Some students were visual route-finders and used a highly visual strategy; others were logical route…

As part of a long-term research study to enhance science learning, this paper reports on an exploratory study aimed at identifying initial beliefs and practices of a group of teachers and students (Years 4-6) in Australia when the students engaged with multiple representations of the same science concepts. There is growing recognition in science…