A study of 135 undergraduate students suggests that students' personality traits in general, and their self-esteem and achievement motivation in particular, have a substantial influence on their approaches to study and to levels of knowledge processing. (Author/MSE)

A survey of university freshmen investigated structural gender differences in learning behavior, based on recollections and report of science study in the final year of secondary school. It is concluded that the differences that emerged are only partially interpretable as classic deep or strategic structures and that gender-sensitive sources of…

Two experiments examined how learning from different media--real pulley systems or simple line diagrams--affected mechanical learning and problem solving. The first showed that subjects' learning improved equally in both cases; all subjects showed an increase in quantitative understanding as they learned; and subjects manipulating real pulley…

Discusses a cooperative effort to solve the articulation problems among participating institutions of higher education and to dispel the stereotypes impeding these efforts. Participants value highly the collegial exchange afforded by the project and feel that the project reduced their professional isolation. Teachers instituted changes in…

Suggests that the cliche that "all kids can learn" validates educational practices that mask middle school learners' diversity. Presents case studies of two middle school learners, one student who could not read, and one who was gifted. Suggests that the hard truth is that middle schoolers differ greatly in the ways they learn and in their…

This study examined 29 second-year undergraduate students of Spanish using a self-access learning environment for the first time, focusing on their language attitudes and learning strategies. The results show that, even as modern languages majors, the students possessed a model of language and strategies for learning that were significantly…

Deficits common among secondary students with learning disabilities or mathematics deficiencies are considered, along with a strategy to teach upper level mathematics, such as algebra or calculus. The strategy involves use of a mentor to help students to comprehend mathematics vocabulary, develop their own problem-solving strategy, and create a…

Discusses the educational needs of American Indian women, highlighting the difficulties that they encounter in traditional postsecondary education and their unique learning abilities. Suggests that the community ethos of American Indian culture needs to be transported to the classroom through the implementation of cooperative educational…

Reports on a study of effects of teaching styles, student cognitive styles, matched and mismatched conditions, and student age and gender in relation to the course grades of 207 community college students. Indicates that concrete sequential teachers assigned the lowest grades and that students over 24 attained higher grades than younger students…

This article presents the whole-language approach as an environment that is particularly suitable for students with learning disabilities. This approach can allow students control over their learning, encourages them to experiment and take risks in their learning, promotes self-monitoring strategies, and enhances memory. (SW)

Analyzes the metadiscourse in persuasive essays written by university students studying English as a Second Language at a midwestern university. Results indicate that skilled writers are aware of their readers' needs and control the strategies for making their texts accessible to the reader, whereas poor writers cannot generate considerate texts.…

Results of a British program of eight learning strategy workshops for university freshmen are discussed. The workshops focused on essay writing and test-taking skills. Regular attendees had significantly more sophisticated conceptions of learning than irregular attendees and had higher essay and examination scores. However, differences in overall…

Investigated whether specific strategies of commenting or questioning by the adult reader would influence the complexity and type of spontaneous comments to story details made by children listening to stories. Results suggest that parents and teachers should combine questioning and commenting during storybook readings to induce lengthier comments…

Reports on a study designed to replicate and extend existing literature on important factors and abilities that influence sight-reading skills in music. Finds that, in the beginning stages of training, sight-reading skill is not correlated significantly with ability to perform rehearsed music. (CFR)

Asserts that law-related education programs, although more prominent at the secondary level than in higher education, have been successful in educating students about the role of law in society. Describes the use of mock trial competition as an instructional strategy in political science courses. (CFR)