Shortcomings of the human brain and remedial action by religion

There is no consensus as to whether, and if so, in which regard and to what extent science and religion is needed for human survival. Here a circumscribed domain is taken up: the sovereignty and sufficiency of the human brain in this context. Several of its shortcomings are pointed out. Religion and other aspects of culture are needed for remedial action. To determine such an action, a broad-based dialogue is required, based on the most promising ontology and epistemology as well as on appropriate logics.     

Project TEAMS integrating technology into middle school instruction

Conclusion As we indicated at the outset of this article, Project TEAMS was undertaken to incorporate a variety of innovative practices into middle school instruction, and thereby improve the quality of middle school education. The project has placed particular emphasis on using instructional technology as an integral part of the instructional process. The TEAMS project is now into its sixth year, and while we certainly have not accomplished nearly all of the goals we set, we are confident that we have made good progress in improving the quality of middle school education in the schools where Project TEAMS has been implemented. We invite others who are interested in making similar changes in middle school instruction to contact us for more information. More information about Project TEAMS is available at the following Web site: www. ifsi.org.     

Dosuperior teachers employ systematic instructional planning procedures? A descriptive study

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which a group of superior elementary and secondary school teachers employed systematic instructional planning practices. The research method employed was a multicase design in which nine teachers (five secondary and four elementary) from a single school district were studied. Qualitative data in the form of written surveys and face-to-face interviews were collected and analyzed. Results revealed that most of the teachers' planning activities centered around six types of decisions. When the teachers' planning activities were compared with a systematic approach to instructional planning, the two approaches were found to be different in several important ways: the teachers did not place much emphasis on specifying objectives, creating objectives-based tests, or making other instructional decisions in light of objectives. Implications for teaching preservice teachers about systematic planning are discussed. The authors would like to thank the nine teachers who participated in this study, and Julia O'Brien, who helped to conduct it.     

Is too much help an obstacle? Effects of interactivity and cognitive style on learning with dynamic versus non-dynamic visualizations with narrative explanations

Educational technology research and development - The aim of this study was to investigate the role of visual/verbal cognitive style and interactivity level in dynamic and non-dynamic multimedia...     

Can self-report data on deficits in reading and spelling predict spelling disability as defined by psychometric tests?

Questionnaire data concerning spelling and reading self-assessment, habits, and school history were obtained for 79 adults (54 women and 25 men). The items were used to predict affectedness as defined on the basis of psychometric tests. For this purpose, two different discriminant analytical approaches (linear discriminant analysis and hierarchical classification with CART) were compared using a cross-validation design. 86.8–92.6% of the learning sample and 87.5–88% of the cross-validation sample were classified correctly. The CART model was preferred due to a balanced relation of sensitivity and specificity. Our results support the conclusion that self-report data are appropriate to substitute psychometric tests if these cannot be administered.     

Comparative acceptability and effectiveness of teacher-revised and designer-revised instruction

This study examined whether instructional material revised by teachers will be more effective and adopted more readily than material revised by designers and material that is not revised. Teachers from a vocational school were randomly assigned to review one version of the material and complete an Instructional Materials Acceptance Questionnaire. Students were asked to read the chapter randomly assigned to them and complete a posttest.Contrary to expectations, the teacher-revised material was as effective as the designer-revised material and more effective than the original material, yet it was not more acceptable to teachers. As expected, the designer-revised material was more effective than the original material. However, teachers were no more favorably disposed to the designer-revised version than to the original version. Possible reasons for these findings are described and suggestions for future research are offered.