This article presents a simple, cognitive theory of science and learning. The first section of the paper develops the theory's two main propositions: (i) A wide range of scientific activities rely heavily on one type of reasoning, hypothetical thinking, and (ii) This type of reasoning is also useful to students for learning science content. The…

The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to investigate the effects of Data-Driven Learning (DDL) framed within the Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) on Thai learners' use of academic collocations and 2) to examine how Thai learners utilized the involvement load (IL) components (need, search, and evaluation) to master academic collocations. It is…

Arabic is one of the largest donor languages to Malay and Persian. This study explores the benefits of Arabic vocabulary in teaching Malay words of Arabic origin to Persian-speaking students using a vocabulary survey containing 40 Malay words of Arabic origin, most of which retain phonetic or semantic similarity in Persian. Participants were 20…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the effect of a new vocabulary revision technique "peer-chain" developed by the researchers on vocabulary learning and retention among English as a foreign language (EFL) university students. A total of 46 participants (21 in the control group and 25 in the experimental group)…

The "Moodle" platform has been used to put into practice an ongoing evaluation of the students' Physics learning process. The evaluation has been done on the frame of the course General Physics, which is lectured during the first year of the Physics, Mathematics and Electronic Engineering Programmes at the Faculty of Science and…

Research methods and statistics are core courses in the undergraduate psychology major. To assess learning outcomes, it would be useful to have a measure that assesses research methods and statistical literacy beyond course grades. In two studies, we developed and provided initial validation results for a research methods and statistical knowledge…

Learning theories converge on the principles of reflective learning processes and perceive them as fundamental to effective learning. Traditional laboratory education in science and engineering often happens in highly resource-constrained environments that compromise some of the learning objectives. This paper focuses on characterizing three…

With the rapid growth of computer technology, some printed texts are designed as hypertexts to help EFL (English as a foreign language) learners search for and process multiple resources in a timely manner for autonomous learning. The purpose of this study was to design a hypertext system and examine if a 14-week teacher-guided print-based and…

The new requirement placed on students in tertiary settings in Spain to demonstrate a B1 or a B2 proficiency level of English, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL), has led most Spanish universities to develop a program of certification or accreditation of the required level. The first part of this…

We report on a project to introduce interactive learning strategies (ILS) to physics classes at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, one of the leading science universities in France. In Spring 2012, instructors in two large introductory classes, first-year, second-semester mechanics, and second-year introductory electricity and magnetism,…

A number of authors have presented data that challenge the validity of self-report of strategy use or choice of strategy. We created a multiple-choice measure of students' strategy use based on the work of Kozminsky, E., and Kozminsky, L. (2001), and tested it with three samples as part of a series of studies testing the fit of the DIME model of…

Assessment is an essential element in learning processes. It is therefore not unsurprising that almost all learning management systems (LMSs) offer support for assessment, e.g., for the creation, execution, and evaluation of multiple choice tests. We have designed and implemented generic support for assessment that is based on assignments that…

Purpose of this experiment was to explore to what extent people can acquire concepts from exposure to definitions and to determine whether a procedure that induces semantic encoding will have the same effect on concept learning as such procedures have on associative learning. (Authors/MB)