This case study examines academic achievement and learning style preferences among Black and white graduate students attending a predominantly white university. Results provide evidence that Black students at this graduate school possess a stronger generalized preference for the dependent learning style, a less significant preference for the…

This article concerns artistic development within the context of a Master of Fine Arts program in visual arts in Sweden, and presents an empirical study based on repeated interviews with a group of art students. The aim is to contribute to our present understanding of artistic development by focusing on changes in the relation between the student…

To identify the challenges that students must meet to engage in effective self-directed inquiry, a class was followed for three years, from the fourth through the sixth grades, as they engaged in a sequence of progressively more demanding inquiry activities. Students made substantial progress in understanding the objectives of inquiry, identifying…

Chamber music provides myriad opportunities to develop students' ability to think like professional musicians while engaged in the authentic task of working closely with and learning from peers. However, the potential for musical growth inherent in chamber music participation is often unrealized due to either a lack of teacher guidance and support…

The psychometric properties and multigroup measurement invariance of scores on the Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning Scale taken from Bandura's Children's Self-Efficacy Scale were assessed in a sample of 3,760 students from Grades 4 to 11. Latent means differences were also examined by gender and school level. Results reveal a…

The integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in course offerings in institutions of higher learning (IHLs) is the catalyst towards empowering learners to become autonomous lifelong learners. In an effort to produce quality and independent learners, Learning Management Systems (LMS) are seen as a means to assist educators in…

Choosing the "right" type of technology, either synchronous or asynchronous, to facilitate learning outcomes is a new challenge as the pace of emerging technologies increases and diversifies. Teachers are encouraged to design courses that require collaboration in online learning communities to facilitate the development of higher order…

Student retention rates are a constant concern in higher education, but this concern has become especially challenging as online courses become more common and there are widespread reports of low completion rates for online, self-study courses. We evaluated four self-study online pharmacy courses with a history of very high completion rates for…

Schools generally have been unable to keep up with the rapid technical changes in modern society. As a result, primary school age children worldwide are becoming self-taught independent e-learners and the gap between what they know and are able to do exceeds the learning outcomes for their schools' ICT (information communication technology)…

This uniquely integrative book brings together leading researchers and practitioners from education, neuroscience, and psychology. It presents a theoretical framework for understanding executive function difficulties together with a range of effective approaches to assessment and instruction. Coverage includes executive function processes in…

This paper reports on establishing and running a Self-Access Centre (SAC) in a secondary school in Hong Kong. The impetus for establishing the SAC came from new government curriculum guidelines with a focus on promoting greater autonomy for school students in their English language education. The approach taken in establishing the SAC was to…

Adult-learning theory challenges faculty to adapt their teaching to certain characteristics of adult learners, including self-direction: if adults direct the bulk of their lives outside of school, they should be permitted to direct their own educational experiences. To what extent is self-directed learning an optimal, or even realistic,…

This article examines the issue of strengthening self-study research in teacher education by consciously situating individual studies within coherent research programs on particular substantive issues. Although acknowledging the positive professional development impact of self-study on teacher educators, this article calls for more closely…

The recent resurgence of interest outside the library field in independent study and the development of formal programs for nontraditional study provide new opportunities for public libraries to serve the independent learner. (Author)