A commonly held belief among educators, researchers, and students is that high-quality texts are easier to read than low-quality texts, as they contain more engaging narrative and story-like elements. Interestingly, these assumptions have typically failed to be supported by the literature on writing. Previous research suggests that higher quality…

New literacies researchers have identified a core set of strategies for locating information, one of which is "reading a Web page to locate information that might be present there" (Leu et al. in: Rush, Eakle, Berger (eds) "Secondary school reading and writing: What research reveals for classroom practices," 2007, p. 46). Do middle-school, high…

Students attending a lecture usually have a wide range of prior knowledge about the topic in question. Rather than seeing this as a problem, lecturers can take advantage of such differences. This article shows how students' misconceptions about old age were used to inform a lecture on the topic. Prior knowledge can thus be used to aid teaching and…

Discusses a study focusing on the process of learning and long-term memory in learning economics. Suggests that effective learning occurs when students have incorporated successfully the formal propositions presented into their permanent knowledge bases. Concludes that when topics are presented that build on students' prior knowledge, economic…