Current theories and models of education often argue that instruction is best administered when knowledge is situated within a context. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides an approach to education that has particularly powerful affordances for learning disciplinary content and practices by solving authentic problems within a discipline. However,…

We use a concept of framing to explain 3 cases in which participants initially lacked mutual understanding but then achieved significant mutual understanding. The cases were all consistent with a pattern of "positional framing" that includes a human participant who is inquiring, which we call a "listener", and a "source", which may be another…

The paper covers a diverse range of topics, the areas of interest for this particular paper include (a) knowledge structures and mental models, (b) problem solving processes, (c) metacognition, (d) skill acquisition, (e) individual learning styles, and (f) transfer of learning. The following brief synopsis of the paper serves to illustrate the…

Knowledge restructuring refers to changes in the strategy with which people solve a given problem. Two types of knowledge restructuring are supported by existing category learning models. The first is a relearning process, which involves incremental updating of knowledge as learning progresses. The second is a recoordination process, which…

The purpose of this study was to investigate novices learning to use a mission planning system. Novice participants received one training session, followed by three test sessions. This was compared to expert performance. During the test sessions, all participants were required to "think aloud", based on Ericsson and Simon's (Ericsson, K.A. and…

This article details the experimental research on frame effects that provides quantitative evidence that some types of frames have a greater ability to move and affect policy support than others. This method is particularly useful in showing the magnitude by which exposure to alternative ways of thinking about social issues alters the public's…

Poverty, like other persistent social problems, has taken on new dimensions and scale due to globalization. This research examined 20 adolescents' explanatory frameworks for global poverty during their participation in an international studies program. International development theories were employed to analyze the range of their responses. The…

One shortcoming in the literature on policy framing has been the absence of analytic models through which to explicate change. This paper advances research in this area in three related ways. First, it links policy frames to the actors who employ them. Second, based upon this linkage it proposes two complementary approaches for examining…

This article explores turning points and transitions emerging in the life course of children with disabilities and their parents. Through in-depth interviews with parents we found that a change appears in disabled children's social participation and belonging, at approximately eight years of age for children with learning difficulties and at…

"The question for me is how can the human mind occur in the physical universe. We now know that the world is governed by physics. We now understand the way biology nestles comfortably within that. The issue is how will the mind do that as well."--Allen Newell, December 4, 1991, Carnegie Mellon University. The argument John Anderson gives…

An alternative is suggested to conventional and propositional ways of thinking about curriculum matters. Curriculum theory is conventionally presented as statements of propositional knowledge even though the significance of tacit, non-propositional knowledge has been recognized in philosophy. It is suggested that attention be paid to how teachers…

Competence-based extensions of Knowledge Space Theory are suggested as a formal framework for implementing key features of personalised learning in technology-enhanced learning. The approach links learning objects and assessment problems to the relevant skills that are taught or required. Various ways to derive these skills from domain ontologies…

In the late 1960s and early 1970s a considerable amount of research was conducted on methods for authoring and structuring instructional materials by researchers who did not, at that time, have access to the existing delivery systems necessary to fully implement their ideas. One of these methodologies is Structural Communications, developed by…

Evidence for the superiority of guided instruction is explained in the context of our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, expert-novice differences, and cognitive load. Although unguided or minimally guided instructional approaches are very popular and intuitively appealing, the point is made that these approaches ignore both the structures…

This paper reports the preliminary findings of a county-wide study of alcohol and other drug (AOD) behaviors and influences among 2,229 randomly selected students in grade 8, 10, and 12. The discussion focuses on behavioral, cognitive, and environmental predictors of AOD behaviors. The paper highlights a refined study of the influence of peers,…