This qualitative study investigates the ways in which White college students make sense of meritocracy in relation to racial inequality in the contemporary United States. Through in-depth individual interviews and qualitative methods of analysis, participants reveal their beliefs about how people achieve success in the U.S., their explanations of the economic disparity between Black and White Americans, and their perspectives on meritocracy in contemporary U.S. society. Twenty traditionally-aged White undergraduate college students at a large public University in the Northeast took part in the study. The sample was stratified by gender, year in school and engagement with issues of racism. White students who had experience with issues of racism through academic courses, or who had taken active roles in student organizations that addressed racism were identified as “engaged.” White students who had not been actively involved in such courses or co-curricular activities were identified as “not-engaged.” Based on their gender or year in school, there were no differences in White students' perspectives on either meritocracy or racial inequality. Prior engagement with racism, however, was strongly related to striking differences in White students' perspectives on meritocracy and their explanations for racial inequality. Engaged White students were much more likely than not-engaged White students to espouse a structuralist stratification perspective about both success and racial inequality, and to assert that the United States is not a meritocracy. Most of the not-engaged White students relied on individualist explanations for both the achievement of success and the causes of racial inequality. Of particular note is the way that many not-engaged White students seemed to be involved in a cognitive juggling act, trying to work with the contradictions between their ideology of meritocracy and their awareness of racial discrimination. The findings raise implications about the role that merit and racial ideology play in forming White students' understanding of individual achievement and racial inequality in the United States. The study includes suggestions for new ways of conceptualizing anti-racism teaching to emphasize the role of meritocratic ideology and it suggests future research on developmental processes that may challenge traditionally-aged White undergraduate college students' reliance on merit ideology.

The purpose of this study was to identify, study and implement the characteristics of effective science pedagogy in the multicultural classroom. The ultimate goal was to identify the instructional strategies in the learning process. The scope of the work included the development of wisdom-in-practice by a skillful teacher. A model (KMEEP) was used for describing the processes of learning and teaching within the multicultural classroom. Case studies were written with the goal of using the classroom experiences of the teacher to bridge the gap between theory and praxis.

Race, one of the most salient qualities by which people determine their social interactions, is a dynamic social construction shaped by racism in which Whites benefit by increased access to social power. Racial identity is defined as one's conscious and unconscious affiliation with one's racial group membership. Theoretical models identify racial identity development to proceed according to three aspects (1) one's sense of self as a member of a racial group, (2) one's attitudes and beliefs about other racial groups, and (3) one's understanding of racism. This study uses these aspects as guides for three research questions, namely (1) "How do traditional-age White college students describe themselves in terms of their White identity?" (2) "How do traditional-age White college students demonstrate and/or describe their attitudes and beliefs about other racial groups?" and (3) "How do traditional-age White college students define and describe racism?" This study includes quantitative and qualitative methods. Data was elicited in two processes. Forty traditional-aged White college students completed a Personal Information sheet, the Conceptualization of Racism Test and the Experience Recall protocol. A subset of ten students participated in in-depth interviews. Twelve variables were identified for a correlation analysis. While there is not a correlation among the variables, patterns related to the two developmental models were identified. Seven theme clusters were identified and include: (1) Definitions of race, ethnicity and self-ascription by race and ethnicity, (2) Recognition of differential treatment based on own racial identity, (3) Characteristics of being White, (4) General beliefs about other racial groups, (5) Identification of external influence, degree of internal agency, stereotypes and feelings, (6) Anecdotes of racial interactions involved in racism, and (7) Perspectives on racism. A developmental analysis using cognitive conceptualization of racism skills and self-knowledge skills illustrates developmental differences in the ways in which the students negotiate each theme cluster. The developmental differences are presented in three composite portraits reflective of the developmental differences in the students' understanding of White identity. These portraits are used to provide answers to the research questions.

Galileo's contemporaries as well as today's students have difficulty understanding relative motion. It is hypothesized that construction of visual models, resolution of these visual models with numeric models, and, in many cases, rejection of epistemological commitments such as the belief in one "true" velocity, are necessary for students to form integrated mental models of relative motion events. To investigate students' relative motion problem solving, high school science students were videotaped in classroom and laboratory settings as they performed collaborative predict-observe-explain activities with relative motion computer simulations. The activities were designed to facilitate conceptual change by challenging common alternative conceptions. Half of the students interacted with simulations that provided animated feedback; the other half received numeric feedback. Learning, as measured by a diagnostic test, occurred following both conditions. There was no statistically significant difference between groups on the measure. It is hypothesized that students did not show statistically significant performance differences on the relative motion test because (a) many students were able to solve numeric problems through algorithm use; (b) many numeric condition students were aided in their ability to visualize problems by interaction with the treatment; and (c) the animation condition fostered little learning because the activities were too easy for students to perform. Students' problem solving was examined through analyses of protocols and through statistical analyses of written responses. Evidence supported the following findings: (1) Numeric condition students had more difficulty with the computer activities than animation condition students. (2) Many students in both groups were able to construct accurate mental models of relative motion events. (3) A number of numeric condition students used faulty mechanical algorithms to solve problems. (4) A number of animation condition students used visualization to solve problems, mapping dynamic visual features of the animations onto posttest problems. Thus, there is evidence that presentation of numeric data can foster students' use of mechanical algorithms. Presentation of animations can foster visualization of target problems solved off-line. These results suggest that, in addition to the structure of the simulations, how computer simulations are used may have a great impact on students' cognition.

This qualitative study of the values, beliefs and teaching practices of four teachers at a small private college with a diverse adult student population attempts to bring to light what teaching behaviors help to create an educational climate which includes people of both genders and of different ethnic, racial backgrounds and allows them to succeed in an academic environment. The teachers and students completed weekly teaching and learning journals (derived from Brookfield's (1991) student learning journals) during one semester (spring, 1994). Using grounded theory technique, I uncovered eight activities that both teachers and students felt were effective in providing an inclusive educational environment: (1) use of groups for support, creativity and personal change; (2) conscious student metacognition and self-assessment; (3) interactive classroom activities; (4) exercises which utilize different learning styles; (5) integrative learning which calls upon the different student cultures; (6) close teacher/student and peer/peer feedback connections; (7) academic support components built into the curriculum; and (8) the teacher acting as facilitator. Through a series of teacher interviews, I determined three shared values which appeared congruent with the teachers' actions in the classroom: (1) awareness of the difference between the student cultures, but a reluctance to pre-judge individuals based on cultural assumptions; (2) awareness and utilization of the affective aspects of learning; and (3) a conception of the role of teacher as empowerer. End of the semester focus groups with students added to data obtained from student learning journals to reveal three areas of the learning deemed important for growth: (1) the importance of the social dimension of teaching and learning; (2) the powerful role of the teacher in the learning process; and (3) the importance of applying and integrating the learning into the students' lives. Two problematic areas in the teaching of these four instructors were: (1) a lack of multicultural reading materials within the courses and (2) evaluations methods that were not authentic or inclusive of different learning style orientations. The results of this study hold implications for the administration of programs for adult students of targeted social groups, such as admission policies, class size and teacher training.

There are hidden difficulties in teaching a foreign language in a classroom context that have not been examined. Using ethnographic research methods of participant observation, field notes, audio-taping of classroom conversational exchange, and interviews with participants of the interactions, the hidden issues were identified through data analysis focusing on the discourse between teachers and students of Chinese language. While many classroom interaction studies focus on teaching methods or content that should be taught, this research study examines language classroom interactions from a sociocultural perspective. It provides a description of the cultural and social factors that influence the communicative process in classroom interactions. The underlying assumption guiding this study is that effective foreign language teaching and learning is a communicative process that involves more than simply instruction about the formal features of language and cultural knowledge. The purpose of this process is to develop the individual learner's communicative competence. This competence includes not only language competence and cultural competence but also the openness and readiness of the mind and the flexibility of cognition to function in cross-cultural contexts. The study reveals that a central cause of language classroom miscommunication is the difficulty participants have in creating contextual coherence and meaning. This problem is the direct result of the participants' simplified assumptions of cultural and social stereotypes. The stereotyping of individual and power relationships in the classroom hinders the learning process and can lead to underdeveloped perspectives of cultural images and social roles of individuals. With stereotyped cultural images and the narrowly defined social roles of participants in the classroom, the teaching and learning process limits opportunities to actively develop the learners' communicative competence. The practice of teaching and learning thus may reinforce inflexibility in communicative negotiation and in dealing with the cultural, social, and individual diversities in the cross-cultural interactions outside the classroom. Therefore, cross-cultural openness--the awareness of sociocultural and individual diversity in cross-cultural interactions--is significant in language teaching and learning. The significance of cross-cultural openness is that it not only influences the process of language teaching and learning, but also the content of language teaching and learning.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes that adults entering an adult basic education program went through while they learned to read and write. Two research goals were used to examine six individuals while attending The Literacy Project, Inc., Greenfield, Massachusetts. They were, (1) To examine the relationship between learning to read and write and learning to adapt to change among adults considered illiterate; and (2) To examine how local and community conditions including those of the program as community, affect a literacy program and its curriculum. This study utilized ethnographic methods. The data for the case studies was collected from observations, teacher log entries, student writings, student folders, and interviews with clients, teachers, and aides. The setting of the study was The Literacy Project which is a non-profit community based program which uses a whole-language curriculum. Teaching is also done in groups. A head teacher is in charge and several volunteers are used as aides. Changes were discovered across the case studies. Students went through at least four changes: (1) The Initial Change, (2) Change In Old Strategies: Conning, (3) Change in Self Confidence, and (4) Change in Student/Teacher Relationships, including the way in which students perceived the role of the teacher. The implications for curriculum and programs are described in Chapter 5. They were: (1) A need for teachers to broaden their ideas and concepts of curriculum to include students with opportunities to participate in the developement of curriculum. (2) A need for teachers to broaden their ideas of learning. Learning needs to be viewed as an interactive pursuit. (3) There is a need for community to be developed in the classroom. (4) There is a need for continuity in programs which includes the need for continuity in teachers.

The research and the study focus on the problem of dissociated learning. Why do students fail to connect with knowledge? The purposes of the study are: to summarize research pertaining to brain growth; to describe educational approaches and tactics consistent with this research; to test a brain research-based program designed to connect children to knowledge. The study rests on two research-based assumptions: strategies that connect dysfunctional or developmentally delayed students with thinking and learning will connect children in general with thinking and learning; educational activities integrating spatial information processing with linguistic processing will develop thinking skills more effectively than programs that do not. The apparent reason for the success of a spatial/linguistic program is that cross-modal activities mirror, or model, the integrated processes of the brain, impacting attention, emotion and logical operations. Increasing numbers of students fail to connect with writing. Many of these students can draw. Can drawing be used to connect these students to writing as thinking? The hypothesis is that a cross-modal activity combining drawing (a spatial activity) with writing (a linguistic activity) will develop descriptive, analytical and inferential thinking skills more effectively than a writing program that does not. The study targets children who receive special services, including those with language- and attention-related problems. To test the hypothesis, a quasi-experimental/control study was designed, involving 200 students in grades K, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in intact classrooms in two elementary schools. Approximately 2,000 pieces of data revealed a significant effect for the treatment, Drawing/Writing, on writing and thinking skills in the experimental group, including students who receive special services. The conclusions of the research are that brain research has relevance for education and that cross-modal activities provide antidotes to dissociated learning. The conclusion of the study is that, as a writing program, Drawing/Writing has broad usefulness and appeal.

A vehicle is suggested for bringing information technology into education. Knowledge-based systems are proposed as a way to explore, reason about, and synthesize large knowledge bases. These systems utilize resources such as artificial intelligence, multimedia, and electronic communication to reason about what, with whom, and how they should teach in order to tailor knowledge and communication to individual students. Teaching material does not consist of a repertoire of prespecified responses; rather, reasoning about the student and the complexity of the subject matter informs the system's response so that inferences made by the machine become key features of the system's response. Currently, such systems can reason about a student's presumed knowledge, can solve the problems given to the student, and can begin to recognize plausible student misconceptions. This document provides a practical hands-on guide for people who are considering building knowledge-based systems. It identifies the requisite resources, personnel, hardware and software and describes artificial intelligence methodologies and tools that might become available. The document is directed both at increased production of knowledge-based systems and also at improving the dialogue among computer scientists, educators, researchers, and classroom practitioners around the issue of information technology in the schools.

Dropout rates are of increasing concern because of issues of equity, the social and economic consequences of dropping out, and changing demographics which are bringing increasing numbers of poor, immigrant and minority students into our schools. A growing body of research suggests that schools, as currently structured, do not address the needs of today's students. Alternative programs have had little if any impact in changing the institutions that cause the students they serve to become at risk. Systemic school changes are needed to create learning environments that meet the developmental needs of all students. The seventh and eighth grade restructuring efforts of the Cambridge Public Schools were examined in three schools--representing first, second and third tier schools in the implementation phase. Students, staff and parents were surveyed in each school; oral interviews were conducted; team meetings were observed; and materials were reviewed. The study documents the impact of a systemic change effort, and to determine enhancing and impeding factors to change. Data indicated that substantial activities have been implemented in all three schools, with positive impacts around teaming, student support, school climate, and bilingual and special education integration. There was a varying degree of implementation and integration between schools, reflecting differing amounts of staff development and common planning time each school received. The project had lesser impact in addressing more complex areas of middle grades reform--that of changing how and what we teach; of exploring strategies to raise the achievement and self-esteem of minority students; of transitioning to shared governance; and of increasing parental involvement. Enhancing factors of change included a commitment by central office administration to the change process; creating a shared governance body at the district level; increasing collaboration with community institutions; giving teacher teams common planning time; and empowering key school staff to act as change agents. Impeding factors included the lack of a written mission statement and school plans, adequate orientation and planning time for third tier schools, a staff development plan, and training for key administrators. The study confirms, though, that a systemic school change approach can significantly improve middle grades education.