Contents:
Part 1: Perspectives on Development and Education Part 2: Teaching and Learning Interactions Part 3: Tools for Thought Part 4: Context and Cognition

The potential of new information technologies to support learning has been widely recognized, and educational institutions at all levels have invested heavily in realising such potential. Depite a good deal of early interest in using computers to 'individualize' learning, one of the clearest findings of recent research in computer-based learning is that learning is often positively affected by peer interaction. Learning with Computers brings together a collection of chapters from well-known researchers in this field, and will be of interest to those working within psychology and education.

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Contents:
Part 1: Concepts of Childhood, Concepts of Parenthood Part 2: Frameworks for Child Care Part 3: Expectations in Early Education Part 4: Pupil Perspectives on Classrooms and Playgrounds Part 5: Gender, Race and the Experience of Schooling

First published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

Originally published in 1993, the study of cognitive development in children had moved from a focus on the intellectual processes of the individual studied in relative isolation, as in the classic work of Piaget, to a concern in the 1970s and 1980s with social cognition characterized by Vygotsky's views. In the years following, the trend toward an understanding of the situated nature of cognition had evolved even further and the extent to which thinking and knowing are inextricably linked to contextual constraints was at last being defined. Experts of international repute, the authors of this important book examine the recent literature on situated cognition in children. They explain contextual sensitivity in relation to ecological theories of cognition, and contrast intuitive reasoning in mathematical and other scientific domains with the failure of such reasoning in formal school contexts. Centrally concerned with the question of generalizability and transfer of knowledge from one situation to another, the contributors point to practical implications for understanding how intellectual competence can be made to generalize between "informal" and "formal" situations.

This book is about children's learning and problem-solving behavior. Paul Light and Karen Littleton address, in both theoretical and empirical terms, the ways in which interactions between children influence learning outcomes. The authors describe a series of their own experiments conducted with groups of school children. Many of the studies involve computer-based learning and problem-solving, but the findings are of more general significance. In particular, they have implications both for classroom practice and the understanding of the learning process. This book is a valuable tool for psychologists and educationists.

Originally published in 1993, the study of cognitive development in children had moved from a focus on the intellectual processes of the individual studied in relative isolation, as in the classic work of Piaget, to a concern in the 1970s and 1980s with social cognition characterized by Vygotsky's views. In the years following, the trend toward an understanding of the situated nature of cognition had evolved even further and the extent to which thinking and knowing are inextricably linked to contextual constraints was at last being defined. Experts of international repute, the authors of this important book examine the recent literature on situated cognition in children. They explain contextual sensitivity in relation to ecological theories of cognition, and contrast intuitive reasoning in mathematical and other scientific domains with the failure of such reasoning in formal school contexts. Centrally concerned with the question of generalizability and transfer of knowledge from one situation to another, the contributors point to practical implications for understanding how intellectual competence can be made to generalize between "informal" and "formal" situations.

This book, first published in 2000, is about children's learning and problem-solving behaviour. It reflects the increasingly close integration seen in recent years between social and cognitive approaches to researching the learning process. In particular, Paul Light and Karen Littleton examine the ways in which interactions between children influence learning outcomes. They begin by placing this topic in a broad theoretical and empirical context and go on to present a substantial series of their own experimental studies, which focus on children of late primary and early secondary school age. These investigations address peer facilitation of problem solving, social comparison effects on learning and social context effects upon the interpretation of tasks. Many of the studies involve computer-based learning but the findings have implications both for classroom practice and the understanding of the learning process. This book will be a valuable tool for researchers, teachers and practitioners interested in the social processes of children's learning.

In this third edition of The President's Agenda, Paul Light brings his acclaimed study up to date by weighing the successes and failures of the Bush and Clinton presidencies in setting a legislative agenda of domestic issues for Congress. The most noticeable development, according to Light, is the shrinking of the agenda and the absence of fresh new ideas. Explaining the emergence of "the derivative Presidency," he attributes this increasingly limited agenda to the problems associated with the end of the welfare state, the thickening of government, the problems of the budget, the "Reagan effect," and the changing nature of party politics. With Light's latest judgments and insights, The President's Agenda remains an invaluable text for courses on the American presidency.

"What has changed is the content of the President's agenda. Even under similar political conditions, both Bush and Clinton had fewer proposals than their predecessors, and both tended to favor modifications of the status quo over bold breaks with the past. Although there are important differences between the two Presidents, not the least of which is Bush's high proportion of small-scale, old ideas, the two share a pronounced tendency to look backward for inspiration rather than forward." -- from the Preface

Praise for previous editions:

"Superb... An important and well-thought-out analysis of presidential domestic politics, examining many variables in a president's term... A vital addition to the libraries of those interested in our most idiosyncratic political institution." -- Perspectives on Political Science