High dropout rates are still a problem with online training. It is strongly suggested that learner characteristics influence the decision to persist in an online course or to drop out. The study explored the differences in domain-specific prior knowledge, motivation, computer attitude, computer anxiety, and learning skills between dropouts and…

Since 2009, approximately 8 million student veterans have used $84 Billion in GI Bill benefits to attend college or university in the United States (U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs, "Annual Benefits Report" 2009-16). Student veterans represent 4% of students nationwide (Molina). Despite these numbers, 92% of composition faculty…

In this new edition of their groundbreaking book "Strategies That Work," Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis share the work and thinking they've done since the second edition came out a decade ago and offer new perspectives on how to explicitly teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful, independent readers.…

The awarding of prior learning credits for military students goes back to World War II, when the American Council on Education (ACE) first translated military training to college credit. Since then, the practice has expanded. More than 2,000 colleges and universities accept military training as a form of credit, explains Cathy Sandeen, ACE's vice…

Providing prompts to induce focused processing of the central contents of instructional explanations is a promising instructional means to support novice learners in learning from instructional explanations. However, within research on the expertise reversal effect it has been shown that instructional means that are beneficial for novices can be…

This review begins by outlining the historical discussion about the relative importance of fostering cross-curricular competencies versus domain-specific prior knowledge as central goals of education. Metacognition and prior knowledge are then introduced as constructs representing these two goals; their development and effects on learning outcomes…

Unlike so much of the current vocabulary in education and technology that seems to stir more confusion than clarity, most public service librarians may already have a general idea about digital badges. As visual representations of individual accomplishments, competencies or skills that are awarded by groups, institutions, or organizations, they…

Children rely on both evidence and prior knowledge to make physical causal inferences; this study explores whether they make attributions about others' behavior in the same manner. A total of one hundred and fifty-nine 4- and 6-year-olds saw 2 dolls interacting with 2 activities, and explained the dolls' actions. In the person condition, each doll…

Tagging systems represent the conceptual knowledge of a community. We experimentally tested whether people harness this collective knowledge when navigating through the Web. As a within-factor we manipulated people's prior knowledge (no knowledge vs. prior knowledge that was congruent/incongruent to the collective knowledge inherent in the tags).…

The field of Physics Education Research (PER) seeks to investigate how students learn physics and how instructors can help students learn more effectively. The process by which learners create understanding about a complex physics concept is an active area of research. My study explores this process, using solar cells as the context. To understand…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the role that background knowledge, critical evaluation of information, and a reader's dispositions play in predicting online reading comprehension performance, during comprehension tasks that take place in either less restricted or more restricted information spaces. Sequential regression…

At a research University near the east coast, researchers restructured a College Algebra course by formatting the course into two large lectures a week, an active recitation size laboratory class once a week, and an extra day devoted to active group work called Supplemental Practice (SP). SP was added as an extra day of class where the SP leader…

Skills acquisition is vital for any economic growth, particularly in an era of economic and technological changes. The need for skill development is a vital challenge, foremost for a developing nation, such as India. Therefore, vocational education and training (VET) is a direct means of providing workers with skills more relevant to their…

This article explores the role of the European Union in defining an adult education policy and the way European countries appropriate those guidelines and implement them in their realities. These policies have been widening and diversifying adult education, creating the necessity of qualifying educational professionals. With the implementation of…

"'Do You Want Paper or Plastic?' An Inquiry into Single-Use Grocery Bags" is an inquiry-based, solutions-focused environmental education unit developed for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Field-tested in two U.S. southeastern regions, the unit engages students as informed change makers who investigate the production, consumption, and disposal…