This book is a hands-on description of the application of the methods developed by Professor Reuven Feuerstein to remediate and elaborate the skills and functions of young children who are experiencing a variety of learning disabilities and delays, based on his theories of structural cognitive modifiability (SCM) and the application of mediated learning experience (MLE). The lead author is an experienced educational therapist who has worked with a variety of children, initially in the Feuerstein Institute (formerly the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential [ICELP]) in Jerusalem, Israel. This experience under the supervision of Professor Feuerstein and his staff is the basis for the content of this book. Her case studies have been elaborated to illustrate examples of the creative potential in the application of the methodology incorporating mediated learning experience (MLE) into learning activities designed to be effective with a variety of learning dysfunctions. The chapter format highlights important insights in identifying difficulties and resolving them. This book describes how MLE can be used to formulate insightful and creative interventions that make a difference through the structural cognitive modifiability of very low-functioning children. After initial chapters establish the theoretical and conceptual foundations of the Feuerstein approach, the subsequent chapters present interventions provided for children presenting a variety of learning difficulties. The book will be appropriate for several potential audiences: (1) teachers and parents who interact with special-needs children and who are seeking effective interventions to improve educational performance, (2) clinicians seeking a broadening of their therapeutic repertoires, and (3) scholars who are familiar with or wishing to gain understanding of the implementation of structural cognitive modifiability (SCM) and mediated learning experience (MLE) that was formulated and elaborated by Professor Feuerstein.

Latest developments in the neuroscience and science of learning have affirmed the theoriesof the late cognitive psychologist Professor Reuven Feuerstein. The theory of MediatedLearning Experience (MLE) and Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM), which have theirgenesis in the 1950s continue to make advances in its implementation science.This book aims to provide a compilation of works that synthesises the most up-to-dateknowledge, research, and practice of MLE and its interventions which would guide theapplication of MLE with diverse learners of different stages of human development.Besides an emphasis on the culturally responsive use of the Feuerstein approach, thisbook also intends to offer substantive coverage of the application of MLE across differentcontexts and seeks to merge the current state of knowledge and chart research directionsfor researchers in the cognitive and social-emotional development of students' learning.

Originally developed to help students overcome learning obstacles created by emotional trauma or neurobiological learning disabilities, Reuven Feuersteins work is now used in major cities around the world to support improved thinking and learning by all students. This book is the most up-to-date summary of his thinking and includes accessible descriptions of his tools and methods for cognitive modifiablilty and mediated learning. With dramatic case studies throughout the text, Feuerstein and his co-authors define intelligence as a dynamic force that drives the human organism to change the structure of thinking in order to answer the needs it encounters. They describe in detail the specific skills of the three stages of thinking: input or observation and data-gathering stage; development or processing stage; and output stage, including analysis, synthesis, and communication. They show how student thinking can stall in multiple ways at any of these stages and how intentional mediation can help students restructure their thinking and improve their ability to learn. Similarly to cognitive mediated learning, the authors address mediation of social and emotional skills that impact learning.

The authors bring to life the theory of mediated learning. Through numerous examples and scenarios from classrooms and museums, they show how mediated learning helps children to become more effective learners. --from publisher description.

Over the past century, educational psychologists and researchers have posited many theories to explain how individuals learn, i.e. how they acquire, organize and deploy knowledge and skills. The 20th century can be considered the century of psychology on learning and related fields of interest (such as motivation, cognition, metacognition etc.) and it is fascinating to see the various mainstreams of learning, remembered and forgotten over the 20th century and note that basic assumptions of early theories survived several paradigm shifts of psychology and epistemology. Beyond folk psychology and its naïve theories of learning, psychological learning theories can be grouped into some basic categories, such as behaviorist learning theories, connectionist learning theories, cognitive learning theories, constructivist learning theories, and social learning theories. Learning theories are not limited to psychology and related fields of interest but rather we can find the topic of learning in various disciplines, such as philosophy and epistemology, education, information science, biology, and – as a result of the emergence of computer technologies – especially also in the field of computer sciences and artificial intelligence. As a consequence, machine learning struck a chord in the 1980s and became an important field of the learning sciences in general. As the learning sciences became more specialized and complex, the various fields of interest were widely spread and separated from each other; as a consequence, even presently, there is no comprehensive overview of the sciences of learning or the central theoretical concepts and vocabulary on which researchers rely. The Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning provides an up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the specific terms mostly used in the sciences of learning and its related fields, including relevant areas of instruction, pedagogy, cognitive sciences, and especially machine learning and knowledge engineering. This modern compendium will be an indispensable source of information for scientists, educators, engineers, and technical staff active in all fields of learning. More specifically, the Encyclopedia provides fast access to the most relevant theoretical terms provides up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the most important theories within the various fields of the learning sciences and adjacent sciences and communication technologies; supplies clear and precise explanations of the theoretical terms, cross-references to related entries and up-to-date references to important research and publications. The Encyclopedia also contains biographical entries of individuals who have substantially contributed to the sciences of learning; the entries are written by a distinguished panel of researchers in the various fields of the learning sciences.