This study concerns the question of how teachers can help pupils to perceive the concept of weight (gravitation). Fifth and ninth graders were asked in a paper-and-pencil test to compare the weight of two objects suspended in a pulley-in-balance half a year after the learning intervention consisting of three successive pulley-in-balance…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) of business students in Germany and the USA and their attitudes towards information sharing and to ascertain implications for workplace learning. Design/methodology/approach: This empirical study used a survey research design.…

This paper reports on the development of a self-access center (SAC) within a university context, and focuses on the kind of support mechanisms provided to learners to enhance their self-directed learning (SDL) skills. After providing background information on the center and its counseling service, the paper shows how changes in the university…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how students from foundation degrees (FDs) run at local further education colleges coped (academically and to a lesser extent psychologically) with the transition to a final year honours degree at a university. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on the experience of FD graduates who joined the…

This study examined the effects of a work system on the independent work and play skills of students with autism. Work systems, an element of structured teaching developed by Division TEACCH, are organized sets of visual information that inform a student about participation in work or play areas. A single subject withdrawal of treatment design,…

Several practitioners and researchers consider interactivity as the essential mechanism for effective and successful self-regulated learning within web-based learning environments. Even so, there are few studies that address the question of how students deal with the interactivity provided and how this may be related to their achievement. To…

This article reports the findings from a secondary analysis of the data from two qualitative studies conducted by the researcher regarding the self-directed learning experiences of prostate and breast cancer patients. Of interest were possible differences in the descriptions of the participants' experiences that appear to relate to gender.…

Teachers at an urban elementary school developed and implemented a literacy instructional framework based on a gradual release of responsibility model. The framework included: (1) focus lessons; (2) guided instruction; (3) collaborative learning; and (4) independent learning. Over six years, literacy and math achievement at this school increased…

This study represents an effort to construct a learning framework for knowledge building and collective wisdom advancement in a virtual learning community (VLC) from the perspectives of system wholeness, intelligence wholeness and dynamics, learning models, and knowledge management. It also tries to construct the zone of proximal development (ZPD)…

Students are often faced with the temptation of attractive activities, which may interfere with the learning task and result in detrimental effects on experience and performance. Seventy-seven students (50 girls, 27 boys; M age = 15.9 years; SD = 1.65 years) participated in an experiment that reflected the typical situation of students having to…

This article explores the nature of self-study of teacher education practices by examining what self-study is and how it might be conducted and reported. In working through these ideas, the article makes an argument for the need for learning through self-study to be documented in ways that might not only be accessible to others but also meaningful…

This research was conducted to determine the effects of traditional instruction versus Contract Activity Packaged (CAP) versus Programmed Sequenced Learning (PLS) versus Tactual Resources (TR) on the achievement and attitudes of 32 second-year undergraduate teacher education majors enrolled in two classes of a required child-study course at a…

Students were electronically polled about the influence of the Internet in their education and ways teachers could use this resource to motivate them and increase their learning. Responses from the 956 adolescents showed that the school quest to increase student engagement could more often be met through online assignments that facilitate…

Drawing on examples from the best and most popular works in mystery writing--from Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane to Scott Turow and Thomas Harris--this book introduces the fledgling writer to his or her most indispensable "partners in crime": character, plot, and procedure; the secrets to creating heroes and villains; the art of…

Training is often difficult to acquire for family day care providers because most training initiatives are workshops or seminars, which require a specific time frame and which are frequently scattered and lack continuity. A practicum project developed and implemented one unit, or module, of a 13-module self-instructional training program using an…