Posted on April 15th, 2008 by gmeo
At the highest level of the human capacity to act skillfully are the so-called “executive functions.” Associated with prefrontal cortex in the brain, these capabilities allow humans to overcome impulsive, short-term reactions to their environment and instead to set long-term goals, plan effective strategies for reaching those goals, monitor their progress, and modify strategies as [...]
Filed under: Principle II | No Comments »
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by gmeo
There is no medium of expression that is equally suited for all students or for all kinds of communication. On the contrary, there are media which seem poorly suited for some kinds of expression, and for some kinds of students. While a student with dyslexia may excel at story-telling in conversation, he may falter drastically [...]
Filed under: Principle II | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by jgronneberg
A textbook or workbook in a print format provides limited means of navigation or physical interaction (e.g. by turning pages with fingers, handwriting in spaces provided). Many interactive pieces of educational software similarly provide only limited means of navigation or interaction (e.g. via dexterously manipulating a joystick or keyboard). Navigation and interaction in [...]
Filed under: Principle II | No Comments »
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by jgronneberg
The purpose of education is not to make information accessible (that is the purpose of libraries), but to teach students how to transform accessible information into useable knowledge. Decades of cognitive science research has demonstrated that the capability to transform accessible information into useable knowledge is not a passive process but an [...]
Filed under: Principle I | No Comments »
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by jgronneberg
Students vary in their facility with different forms of representation – both linguistic and non-linguistic. Vocabulary that may sharpen and clarify concepts for one student may be opaque and foreign to another. A graph that illustrates the relationship between two variables may be informative to one student and inaccessible or puzzling to another. [...]
Filed under: Principle I | No Comments »
