Discusses cognitive mapping as a way of finding out how a teacher perceives software and describes a study in which student teachers constructed cognitive maps of software to help determine teaching and learning strategies. Implications of teachers' perceptions of software content of courses using computer-assisted learning are discussed.…

A detailed description of a layered network model is provided, with computer simulations of key associative learning phenomena and predictions generated from the model. The model is compared to more conventional theories of learning to learn and configural learning. (SLD)

Used a microgenetic method to examine knowledge acquisition as a process by coordinating existing theories with new evidence. Subjects were 17 community college students (ages 22-47) and 15 fourth graders. Assessed knowledge acquisition in problem solving in both physical and social domains. Found multiple strategies for, and varying levels of,…

Investigates the cognitive functions of college students' use of underlining as a learning strategy. Finds that underlining does not serve an encoding or review function and may be counterproductive for inferential recall. (PRA)

Proposes that conceptual change is constrained by the child's conceptual structures and the structures inherent in problem-solving tasks. Uses a microgenetic case study and group data to examine how interaction between strategies children bring to a task and the detailed task structure redirect children's attention and create the possibility of…

This project addressed the question: What knowledge and processes enable individuals to construct and modify representations of novel, nonroutine problems? The theoretical goal was to extend the information-processing theory of problem solving to include processes that have been characterized as restructuring of problems and productive thinking by…

Information-processing students solving problems in the 1960s and 1970s accepted the tradition of early experimental psychology in concentrating primarily on the study of "knowledge-lean" tasks in which competence can usually be acquired over short periods of learning and experience. In recent years, experts have examined knowledge-rich…

Suggests that using Bloom's taxonomy of the six levels of cognitive operations--knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation--can help instructors formulate challenging questions which guide students' critical thinking skills. (MM)

This paper focuses on some cognitive and didactical phenomena that feature processes and products of pupils in grades 7-12 who learned mathematical proof within technological environments. The main issues in the analysis of students' performances consist of metaphors, deictics, mental times, narratives, functions of dragging, abductions, and…

Transfer of training in the construction and use of knowledge maps to text comprehension was investigated. Knowledge maps (k-maps) are spatial/verbal arrays that represent information in the form of node-link diagrams. K-maps make the macrostructure of a body of information more easily available to the learner. Because k-maps emphasize…

Provides information about hypnosis. Uses research data to define hypnosis, discuss the relationship between hypnosis and memory, and present some possible benefits. Includes a chart with some common misconceptions about hypnosis and the corresponding true statement. (DDR)

This manual describes two methods of assessing college students' conceptual structures in the interest of student evaluation. The focus is on the mental frameworks (conceptual structures) that enable students to remember and apply facts and theories. The guide offers two methods, the "ordered-tree" and the "fill-in-the-structure." An introduction…

Evidence from video tapes of experts thinking aloud and using analogies in scientific problem solving is presented. Four processes appear to be important in using an analogy: (1) generating the analogy; (2) establishing confidence in the validity of the analogy relation; (3) understanding the analogous case; and (4) applying findings to the…

This chapter presents a review of the latest research on advance organizers, and provides instructions for constructing and using them. The theoretical background of the advance organizers research is presented, beginning with the work of Ausubel, and this work is related to the writings of Piaget. An outline of advance organizer research is then…

Using 198 college students, this study investigated the effects on performance of four variables in a concept-learning task. The variables were (1) passive and active learning; (2) contextual specificity and variability; (3) rule-examples sequences; and (4) near and far transfers as critical outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the…