The state of America's schools is a major concern of policymakers, educators, and parents, and new programs and ideas are constantly proposed to improve it. Yet few of these programs and ideas are based on strong research about students and teachers--about learning and teaching. Even when there is solid knowledge, the task of importing it into more than one million classrooms is daunting. Improving Student Learning responds by proposing an ambitious and extraordinary plan: a strategic education research program that would focus on four key questions: <ul>
<li>How can advances in research on learning be incorporated into educational practice? 
</li> <li>How can student motivation to achieve in school be increased? 
</li> <li>How can schools become organizations capable of continuous improvement? 
</li> <li>How can the use of research knowledge be increased in schools? 
</li> </ul>
This book is the springboard for a year-long discussion among educators, researchers, policy makers, and the potential funders-federal, state, and private-of the proposed strategic education research program. The committee offers suggestions for designing, organizing, and managing an effective strategic education research program by building a structure of interrelated networks. The book highlights such issues as how teachers can help students overcome their conceptions about how the world works, the effect of expectations on school performance, and the particular challenges of teaching children from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds. In the midst of a cacophony of voices about America's schools, this book offers a serious, long-range proposal for meeting the challenges of educating the nation's children. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>1 Can Research Serve the Needs of Education?</li>
<li>2 Focusing Our Efforts: Four Key Questions</li>
<li>3 Getting Answers: Designing a Strategic Research Program</li>
<li>References</li>
</ul>

Improving Student Learning: A Strategic Plan for Education Research and Its Utilization

Education & Teaching

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences

National, Research Council

Committee on a Feasibility Study for a Strategic Education Research Program

Schools & Teaching

National Academies Press

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School

When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do--with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methods--to help children learn most effectively? This book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to these and other questions. New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: <ul>
<li>How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. 
</li> <li>How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. 
</li> <li>What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. 
</li> <li>The amazing learning potential of infants. 
</li> <li>The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. 
</li> <li>Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. 
</li> <li>A realistic look at the role of technology in education.</li> </ul>
If education is to help students make sense of their surroundings and ready them for the challenges of the technology-driven, internationally competitive world, then it must be based on what we know about learning from science. In that light, this book will be of significant professional interest to teachers, education policymakers and administrators, and curriculum developers. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>1 Learning from Speculation to Science</li>
<li>2 How Experts Differ from Novices</li>
<li>3 Learning and Transfer</li>
<li>4 How Children Learn</li>
<li>5 Mind and Brain</li>
<li>6 The Design of Learning Environments</li>
<li>7 Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, and Science</li>
<li>8 Teacher Learning</li>
<li>9 Technology to Support Learning</li>
<li>10 Conclusions and Recommendations for Research</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

Possible new breakthroughs in understanding the aging mind that can be used to benefit older people are now emerging from research. This volume identifies the key scientific advances and the opportunities they bring. For example, science has learned that among older adults who do not suffer from Alzheimerâ€™s disease or other dementias, cognitive decline may depend less on loss of brain cells than on changes in the health of neurons and neural networks. Research on the processes that maintain neural health shows promise of revealing new ways to promote cognitive functioning in older people. Research is also showing how cognitive functioning depends on the conjunction of biology and culture. The ways older people adapt to changes in their nervous systems, and perhaps the changes themselves, are shaped by past life experiences, present living situations, changing motives, cultural expectations, and emerging technology, as well as by their physical health status and sensory-motor capabilities. Improved understanding of how physical and contextual factors interact can help explain why some cognitive functions are impaired in aging while others are spared and why cognitive capability is impaired in some older adults and spared in others. On the basis of these exciting findings, the report makes specific recommends that the U.S. government support three major new initiatives as the next steps for research. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>1 Understanding the Aging Mind</li>
<li>2 Neural Health</li>
<li>3 Cognition in Context</li>
<li>4 Structure of the Aging Mind</li>
<li>5 Implementation</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Appendix A: Age-Related Shifts in Neural Circuit Characteristics and Their Impact on Age-Related Cognitive Impairments</li>
<li>Appendix B: Homeostatic Processes in Brain Aging: The Role of Apoptosis, Inflammation, and Oxidative Stress in Regulating Healthy Neural Circuitry in the Aging Brain</li>
<li>Appendix C: The Bearable Lightness of Aging: Judgment and Decision Processes in Older Adults</li>
<li>Appendix D: Cognitive Aging and Adaptive Technologies</li>
<li>Appendix E: Health Effects on Cognitive Aging</li>
<li>Appendix F: Cultural Variations in Cognition: Implications for Aging Research</li>
<li>Appendix G: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain in Nonhuman Primates: A Prospectus for Research on Aging</li>
<li>Appendix H: Biographical Sketches</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

The Aging Mind: Opportunities in Cognitive Research

Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on Aging

Aging, Committee on Future Directions for Cognitive Research on

Psychology & Counseling

First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methods--to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: <ul>
<li>How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain.</li> <li>How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn.</li> <li>What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach.</li> <li>The amazing learning potential of infants.</li> <li>The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace.</li> <li>Learning needs and opportunities for teachers.</li> <li>A realistic look at the role of technology in education.</li> </ul> Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>I INTRODUCTION</li>
<li>1 Learning: From Speculation to Science</li>
<li>II LEARNERS AND LEARNING</li>
<li>2 How Experts Differ from Novices</li>
<li>3 Learning and Transfer</li>
<li>4 How Children Learn</li>
<li>5 Mind and Brain</li>
<li>III TEACHERS AND TEACHING</li>
<li>6 The Design of Learning Environments</li>
<li>7 Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, and Science</li>
<li>8 Teacher Learning</li>
<li>9 Technology to Support Learning</li>
<li>IV FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING</li>
<li>10 Conclusions</li>
<li>11 Next Steps for Research</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Biographical Sketches of Committees' Members and Staff</li>
<li>Acknowledgments</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition (Informal Learning)

Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning with additional material from the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice

New Horizons in Health discusses how the National Institutes of Health (NIH) can integrate research in the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences to better understand the causes of disease as well as interventions that promote health. It outlines a set of research priorities for consideration by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), with particular attention to research that can support and complement the work of the National Institutes of Health. By addressing the range of interactions among social settings, behavioral patterns, and important health concerns, it highlights areas of scientific opportunity where significant investment is most likely to improve nationalâ€"and globalâ€"health outcomes. These opportunities will apply the knowledge and methods of the behavioral and social sciences to contemporary health needs, and give attention to the chief health concerns of the general public. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>Introduction</li>
<li>Predisease Pathways</li>
<li>Positive Health: Resilience, Recovery, Primary Prevention, and Health Promotion</li>
<li>Environmentally Induced Gene Expression</li>
<li>Personal Ties</li>
<li>Collective Properties and Healthy Communities</li>
<li>The Influence of Inequality on Health Outcomes</li>
<li>Population Perspectives: Understanding Health Trends and Evaluating the Health Care System</li>
<li>Interventions</li>
<li>Methodology Priorities</li>
<li>Research Infrastructure</li>
<li>Biographical Sketches</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

New Horizons in Health: An Integrative Approach

Politics & Social Sciences

Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Committee on Future Directions for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health

Social Sciences

Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education

Special education and gifted and talented programs were designed for children whose educational needs are not well met in regular classrooms. From their inceptions, these programs have had disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic minority students. What causes this disproportion? Is it a problem? Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education considers possible contributors to that disparity, including early biological and environmental influences and inequities in opportunities for preschool and K-12 education, as well as the possibilities of bias in the referral and assessment system that leads to placement in special programs. It examines the data on early childhood experience, on differences in educational opportunity, and on referral and placement. The book also considers whether disproportionate representation should be considered a problem. Do special education programs provide valuable educational services, or do they set students off on a path of lower educational expectations? Would students not now placed in gifted and talented programs benefit from raised expectations, more rigorous classes, and the gifted label, or would they suffer failure in classes for which they are unprepared? By examining this important problem in U.S. education and making recommendations for early intervention and general education, as well as for changes in referral and assessment processes, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education will be an indispensable resource to educators throughout the nation, as well as to policy makers at all levels, from schools and school districts to the state and federal governments. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>1 The Context of Special and Gifted Education</li>
<li>2 Representation of Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education</li>
<li>3 Influences on Cognitive and Behavioral Development</li>
<li>4 Early Intervention Programs</li>
<li>5 The General Education Context</li>
<li>6 The Legal Context and the Referral Process</li>
<li>7 Assessment Practices, Definitions, and Classification Criteria</li>
<li>8 Alternative Approaches to Assessment</li>
<li>9 Weighing the Benefits of Placement</li>
<li>10 Recommendations</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Biographical Sketches</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

Committee on Minority Representation in Special Education

The polygraph, often portrayed as a magic mind-reading machine, is still controversial among experts, who continue heated debates about its validity as a lie-detecting device. As the nation takes a fresh look at ways to enhance its security, can the polygraph be considered a useful tool? The Polygraph and Lie Detection puts the polygraph itself to the test, reviewing and analyzing data about its use in criminal investigation, employment screening, and counter-intelligence. The book looks at: <ul>
<li>The theory of how the polygraph works and evidence about how deceptivenessâ€"and other psychological conditionsâ€"affect the physiological responses that the polygraph measures.</li> <li>Empirical evidence on the performance of the polygraph and the success of subjectsâ€™ countermeasures.</li> <li>The actual use of the polygraph in the arena of national security, including its role in deterring threats to security. 
</li> </ul>
 The book addresses the difficulties of measuring polygraph accuracy, the usefulness of the technique for aiding interrogation and for deterrence, and includes potential alternativesâ€"such as voice-stress analysis and brain measurement techniques. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>1 Lie Detection and the Polygraph</li>
<li>2 Validity and Its Measurement</li>
<li>3 The Scientific Basis for Polygraph Testing</li>
<li>4 Evidence from Polygraph Research: Qualitative Assessment</li>
<li>5 Evidence from Polygraph Research: Quantitative Assessment</li>
<li>6 Alternative Techniques and Technologies</li>
<li>7 Uses of Polygraph Tests</li>
<li>8 Conclusions and Recommendations</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Appendix A: Polygraph Questioning and Techniques</li>
<li>Appendix B: Use of Polygraph Screening in the U.S. Department of Energy and Other Federal Agencies</li>
<li>Appendix C: The Wen Ho Lee Case and the Polygraph</li>
<li>Appendix D: Physiological Processes Measured by the Polygraph</li>
<li>Appendix E: Historical Notes on the Modern Polygraph</li>
<li>Appendix F: Computerized Scoring of Polygraph Data</li>
<li>Appendix G: Process for Systematic Review of Polygraph Validation Studies</li>
<li>Appendix H: Quantitative Assessment of Polygraph Test Accuracy</li>
<li>Appendix I: False Positive Index Values for Polygraph Testing</li>
<li>Appendix J: Decision Analysis of Polygraph Security Screening</li>
<li>Appendix K: Combining Information Sources in Medical Diagnosis and Security Screening</li>
<li>Appendix L: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

The Polygraph and Lie Detection

Committee on National Statistics

Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph

Sociology

Recruiting an all-volunteer military is a formidable task. To successfully enlist one eligible recruit, the Army must contact approximately 120 young people. The National Research Council explores the various factors that will determine whether the military can realistically expect to recruit an adequate fighting force -- one that will meet its upcoming needs. It also assesses the militaryâ€™s expected manpower needs and projects the numbers of youth who are likely to be available over the next 20 years to meet these needs.  With clearly written text and useful graphics, Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth offers an overview of important issues for military recruiters, touching on a number of important topics including: sex and race, education and aptitude, physical and moral attributes, and military life and working conditions. In addition, the book looks at how a potential recruit would approach the decision to enlist, considering personal, family, and social values, and the options for other employment or college.  Building on the need to increase young Americansâ€™ â€œpropensity to enlist,â€ this book offers useful recommendations for increasing educational opportunities while in the service and for developing advertising strategies that include concepts of patriotism and duty to country. Of primary value to military policymakers, recruitment officers, and analysts, Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth will also interest social scientists and policy makers interested in youth trends. Table of ContentsFront MatterExecutive Summary1. Introduction2. Military Manpower Requirements3. Demographic Trends4. Trends in Youth Qualifications and Enlistment Standards5. Trends in Employment and Educational Opportunities for Youth6. Youth Values, Attitudes, Perceptions, and Influencers7. Determinants of Intention or Propensity8. Military Advertising and Recruiting9. Conclusions and RecommendationsReferencesAppendix A: Letter Report: Evaluation of the Youth Attitude Tracking Study, YATSAppendix B: Letter Report: The Scientific Basis of the Popular Literature on GenerationsAppendix C: Biographical SketchesIndex

Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruitment

Business & Money

Committee on the Youth Population and Military Recruitment

Job Hunting & Careers

Institutional review boards (IRBs) are the linchpins of the protection systems that govern human participation in research. In recent years, high-profile cases have focused attention on the weaknesses of the procedures for protecting participants in medical research. The issues surrounding participants protection in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences may be less visible to the public eye, but they are no less important in ensuring ethical and responsible research. This report examines three key issues related to human participation in social, behavioral, and economic sciences research: (1) obtaining informed, voluntary consent from prospective participants: (2) guaranteeing the confidentiality of information collected from participants, which is a particularly challenging problem in social sciences research; and (3) using appropriate review procedures for â€œminimal-riskâ€ research. Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research will be important to policy makers, research administrators, research sponsors, IRB members, and investigators. More generally, it contains important information for all who want to ensure the best protectionâ€"for participants and researchers alikeâ€"in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Executive Summary</li>
<li>1 Introduction</li>
<li>2 Basic Concepts</li>
<li>3 Regulatory History</li>
<li>4 Enhancing Informed Consent</li>
<li>5 Enhancing Confidentiality Protection</li>
<li>6 Enhancing the Effectiveness of Review: Minimal-Risk Research</li>
<li>7 System Issues</li>
<li>References</li>
<li>Appendix A: Tracing Changes in Regulatory Language</li>
<li>Appendix B: Organizations and Resources for Human Research Participant Protection</li>
<li>Appendix C: Agenda for Panel's First Meeting</li>
<li>Appendix D: Selected Studies of IRB Operations: Summary Descriptions</li>
<li>Appendix E: Confidentiality and Data Access Issues for Institutional Review Boards</li>
<li>Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff</li>
</ul>

Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research

Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Panel on Institutional Review Boards, Surveys, and Social Science Research

In the summer of 2002, the Office of Naval Research asked the Committee on Human Factors to hold a workshop on dynamic social network and analysis. The primary purpose of the workshop was to bring together scientists who represent a diversity of views and approaches to share their insights, commentary, and critiques on the developing body of social network analysis research and application. The secondary purpose was to provide sound models and applications for current problems of national importance, with a particular focus on national security. This workshop is one of several activities undertaken by the National Research Council that bears on the contributions of various scientific disciplines to understanding and defending against terrorism. The presentations were grouped in four sessions â€" Social Network Theory Perspectives, Dynamic Social Networks, Metrics and Models, and Networked Worlds â€" each of which concluded with a discussant-led roundtable discussion among the presenters and workshop attendees on the themes and issues raised in the session. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>Part I: Workshop Summary</li>
<li>Part II: Workshop Papers Opening Address: Emergent Themes in Social Network Analysis: Results, Challenges, Opportunities</li>
<li>Session I: Social Network Theory Perspectives Finding Social Groups: A Meta-Analysis of the Southern Women Data</li>
<li>Autonomy vs. Equivalence Within Market Network Structure</li>
<li>Social Influence Network Theory: Toward a Science of Strategic Modification of Interpersonal Influence Systems</li>
<li>Information and Innovation in a Networked World</li>
<li>Session II: Dynamic Social Networks Informal Social Roles and the Evolution and Stability of Social Networks</li>
<li>Dynamic Network Analysis</li>
<li>Accounting for Degree Distribution in Empirical Analysis of Network Dynamics</li>
<li>Polarization in Dynamic Networks: A Hopfield Model of Emergent Structure</li>
<li>Local Rules and Global Properties: Modeling the Emergence of Network Structure</li>
<li>Social Networks: Threat Networks and Threatened Networks</li>
<li>Session III: Metrics and Models Sensitivity Analysis of Social Network Data and Methods: Some Preliminary Results</li>
<li>Spectral Methods for Analyzing and Visualizing Networks: An Introduction</li>
<li>Statistical Models for Social Networks: Inference and Degeneracy</li>
<li>The Key Player Problem</li>
<li>Balancing Efficiency and Vulnerability in Social Networks</li>
<li>Data Mining on Large Graphs</li>
<li>Session IV: Networked Worlds Data Mining in Social Networks</li>
<li>Random Effects Models for Network Data</li>
<li>Predictability of Large-Scale Spatially Embedded Networks</li>
<li>Using Multi-Theoretical Multi-Level (MTML) Models to Study Adversarial Networks</li>
<li>Identifying International Networks: Latent Spaces and Imputation</li>
<li>Summary: Themes, Issues, and Applications Linking Capabilities to Needs</li>
<li>Appendix A: Workshop Agenda</li>
<li>Appendix B: Biographical Sketches</li>
</ul>

Dynamic Social Network Modeling and Analysis: Workshop Summary and Papers

Committee on Human Factors

Business Culture

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences