Two hypotheses (selective attention and slot filling) of how schemata enhance the learning and recall of the initial comprehension of prose material were tested. Consistent with the attention-focusing hypothesis, readers spent more time on sentences containing information important to their assigned perspective. (Author/PN)

Demonstrated is a covariance principle that causes the observer to assume that if one aspect of a two-dimensional figure (its perimeter or its area) is conserved, the other aspect must also be conserved (pseudo-conservation). Mentally retarded individuals, assuming no such fixed relationship, correctly judged the changed state of the nonconserved…

Describes the directed group reading technique used by a middle grades teacher in Japan to help her students get the most from a book. Explains how the technique not only allowed the students to acquire more knowledge, but also taught them how to study and think. (FL)

Tests the applicability of Ausubel's theory to the meaningful learning of intellectual skills. Results of three studies of high school students indicate that advance organizers enhance learning of skills related to solubility product problems. This effect was removed if prior teaching in relevant background knowledge was included. (Author/WB)

A model of learning from instruction proposed that students perceive and cognitively respond to instructional stimuli before engaging learning processes per se. University students were trained to recognize only or to recognize and cognitively respond to teacher skills in lectures. Additional prelecture practice in recognition enhanced learning.…

The author, an architect, discusses how architecture can provide sources of content for the curriculum in general and the art program in particular. She views architecture as a way of organizing the built environment, important to understanding history, social sciences, and mathematics as well as art. (KC)

Discusses research supporting the contention that listening fluency should be taught first and oral response delayed because languaqe acquisition takes place without any overt performance. Includes extensive bibliographic references. (PMJ)

Reports three experiments demonstrating that recall for words increases with deeper levels of processing and with longer rehearsal intervals. Asserts that there is no interaction between those strategies. (PMJ)

Defines and describes phenomenography as a research methodology, and argues for its utility in examining aspects of higher education. Reviews research in higher education using the phenomenographic approach, outlines cautions in using it, and discusses alternative explanations offered in the debate over phenomenography. Previews a series of…

Explores the nature and extent of perceived challenge in learning and teaching science. Teachers (n=7) and students (n=37) in 5 secondary schools were the subjects of this study. Findings suggest that many students are insufficiently challenged by the science they learn in school and many teachers are insufficiently challenged by the task of…

Describes research on brain development and its relationship to music education. Discusses how music helps some people organize the way they think and work and how music helps them develop in other areas, including mathematics, language, and spatial reasoning. (10 references) (LMI)

Two experiments on children's inferences and associative memory provided a supportive test of fuzzy-trace theory. Results indicated that false recognition of associated instances with delay declined for all children, and categorical inferences increased for older children. Verbatim memory and inferences were uncorrelated under short delay but…

Cognitive abilities that predicted growth in response to a 12-week training program in phonological awareness were investigated in 100 kindergarten children. Findings suggested that growth in analytic awareness was predicted by invented spelling and general verbal ability, while growth in synthetic awareness was predicted by a combination of…