In the autumn of 2004, an interdisciplinary social science course entitled "Remembering, Forgetting and Forgiveness: Justice and Reconciliation from the National to the International" was offered to undergraduate students at the University of Tampere, Finland. The course had 49 students from 10 different countries on three continents. A…

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has been shown to enhance rote memory skills and improve higher order critical thinking skills. The challenge now is to identify what aspects of CAI improve which specific higher-order skills. This study focuses on the effectiveness of using CAI to teach logarithmic graphing and dimensional analysis. Two groups…

In this article we suggest a method of evaluating learner expertise based on assessment of the content of working memory and the extent to which cognitive load has been reduced by knowledge retrieved from long-term memory. The method was tested in an experiment with an elementary algebra tutor using a yoked control design. In the learner-adapted…

Many students find it difficult to learn the kinds of knowledge and thinking required by college or high school courses in mathematics, science, or other complex domains. Thus they often emerge with significant misconceptions, fragmented knowledge, and inadequate problem-solving skills. Most instructors or textbook authors approach their teaching…

The author suggests that the connection between teachers' early memories and the way they conceptualize their work is likely to be enormously important in the long run. Anne Lindbergh is one of the author's literary heroes. For years the author has been enchanted by Anne's ability to describe commonplace events in the most profound ways. In a way,…

A study examined the emergent patterns and anomalies of adult readers as they unload information from their long term memory into their retellings of text. Participants were 16 graduate students enrolled in a Reading Education Seminar at Indiana University. Participants formed a heterogeneous group which included speakers of six different…

The information processing model, a theoretical framework of how humans think, reason, and learn, views human cognitive functioning as analogous to the operation of a computer. This paper uses the increased understanding of the information processing model to provide teachers with suggestions for improving the teaching-learning process. Major…

This working paper, which reviews the experimental literature on learning skills to provide background information to the staff of the Skills Essential to Learning Television Project (a multi-level series of video and print resources for classroom use), covers four areas: study skills, instructional development and design, cognitive psychology,…

This issue on suggestive learning contains the following articles: (1) "A Time of Growth," by Kay U. Herr; (2) "Sophrology and Suggestology/Suggestopedia: The Same System with a Different Name?" by W. Jane Bancroft; (3) SALT-Quo Vades or Caveat Emptor," by O. L. Caskey; (4) "A Comparison of Suggestopaedia and…

Discussed are the promotion of long-term information retention and transfer through the modification of prose text with opportunities for practice and reinforcement, provisions to reduce forgetting, and simulation of realistic events. Learning principles, relevant reviews of literature, and applications of the principles are presented. (JMD)

Your students will be using and building on reading-related skills during the rest of their schooling and throughout their lives. Here are some learning exercises emphasizing reading-skill activities as well as projects related to other curriculum areas. (Author/RK)

Reports a study which examined the effects of audio and visual approaches to rhythm reading and short-term retention in second and sixth grade students. Sixth graders learned the patterns twice as fast as younger children. Simultaneous use of both auditory and visual channels facilitates learning. (Author/AEM)

Presents strategies for helping students develop their metacognitive abilities. Teachers must specifically encourage thinking about thinking. (MD)

Reports on a study of four Australian 11th-grade biology students that used stimulated recall to evaluate student thinking processes.The study confirmed the complexity of the teaching-learning process. (MD)