Describes a study of 699 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in 33 live, interactive telecourses that investigated satisfaction with various facets of the telecourse, demographic characteristics, and experience with previous telecourses. Results show gender differences and prior experience had the greatest effect on course satisfaction.…

Describes a constructivist model of an online course being taught at the University of South Florida on science, technology, and society interaction (STS) and its relationship to science teaching. Accommodates varied approaches to learning and differing levels of prior knowledge and includes a virtual resource center with free access and embedded…

This study of students at the University of Tampere (Finland) analyzes how changes in relevance criteria are related to changes in problem stages during the task performance process in information retrieval. Provides a conceptual framework, including Kuhlthau's information search process model and prior knowledge; and compares bibliographic…

Explores the impact of analogies and prior content knowledge on reading comprehension of expository texts by both first and second language readers. Written recall protocols were analyzed for two texts. Readers were university students of French or English as a foreign language. Analogy was to have a debilitating effect on comprehension regardless…

Discusses research into the effect of background knowledge on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) tests and discusses EAP tests in which the content of at least some of the test components is related to students' fields of academic study. Suggests that for international EAP tests, English for specific academic purposes testing be abandoned.…

Developed seven Internet-delivered tests of prior knowledge for distance education students in the Netherlands interested in gaining information about future studies. Analysis of 151 responses received through the Web site showed student appreciation of the instruments and the assessment process. (SLD)

Investigates the instructional effects of varied visual interactive strategies in facilitating student achievement and the effect of identical instructional presentations on students possessing different levels of prior knowledge. Participants were 178 college students. Results indicate that different types of interactive visualization strategies…

Maintains that historical understanding is possible only by taking the student's positionality, or prior understanding of the past, into consideration when teaching historical concepts and facts. Explains that through the ambitious efforts of the history teacher, such as questioning students on their epistemological positions, a student's…

Describes a study of Nigerian university and research librarians that examined the relationships between knowledge, training, and experience of librarians on the use of computers and their attitudes towards the computer. Results indicate that there are significant relationships between these variables and computer attitudes. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study of academic literature that investigated the effects of prior computer usage on student competency and attitudes when using computer-based technology in order to successfully develop computer-based training in the Air Force. Suggests that more research is needed. (LRW)

Examines the role of cultural background knowledge on the reading comprehension of third graders acquiring literacy in Dutch as a first and second language while reading noncontrived texts from the reading curricula. Finds a facilitating effect of cultural familiarity for both reading comprehension and reading efficiency. Notes that this effect…

Investigated the influence of, and interplay between, biographical and contextual factors in Portuguese teachers' professional learning and development during their first teaching years. Teacher interviews and surveys highlighted the powerful influence of prior experiences as students, the low impact of preservice education on socialization, and…

Identifies middle school and college students' prior ideas about electrostatic induction. Presented students with observational evidence that supported or refuted their own prior ideas in an interview format. Concludes that the Lakatosian rather than the Popperian view is more acceptable in understanding students' responses to conflicting…

Explores whether construction of integrated knowledge structures by students can be stimulated by concept mapping and better visualization of concepts and their interrelationships. Significant effects of concept mapping as an instructional method could not be detected. (Contains 18 references.) (DDR)

This study used bilingual stories to examine the long-term memory of compound bilinguals in Grades 2 and 3. Results revealed that third graders used more elaborate memory strategies, had greater cognitive awareness of language, and demonstrated significantly better overall memory, relative to second graders. The author discusses memory development…