The interactions between levels of learner prior knowledge and effectiveness of different instructional techniques and procedures have been intensively investigated within a cognitive load framework since mid-90s. This line of research has become known as the expertise reversal effect. Apart from their cognitive load theory-based prediction and…

This paper draws primarily on an ESRC-TLRP longitudinal study of early career professional learning, which focused on the first three years of employment of newly qualified nurses, graduate engineers seeking chartered status and trainee chartered accountants. The first section introduces the theoretical and methodological base provided by previous…

This report fulfills the biennial requirements of RCW 28B.76.250, which directs the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) "to submit a progress report on the development of transfer associate degrees to the higher education committees of the House of Representatives and Senate each odd-numbered year." The HECB report monitors…

This article reports observations of 2 classrooms in which arts based creative activities were integrated with curricular subject areas. One successfully incorporated a positive approach to supporting creativity. The other classroom used a more traditional approach to creative activities in the classroom. Suggestions for and possible outcomes of…

Curriculum design is at the center of developing student ability to construct understanding. Without appropriately designed curriculum, instruction can be ineffective at scaffolding understanding. Often students with disabilities need more explicit instruction or guidance in applying their schema to new information. Thus, instruction must not only…

The teaching of science, especially at pre-college and teacher education levels has undergone tremendous transformation over the years: from teacher-centred transmission to student-centred approaches rooted in constructivism. Whereas constructivism has been charged with all manner of shortfalls, it still can be of benefit to the way physics…

This paper has five objectives: (a) to review the scientific background of, and major findings reported in, Medical Problem Solving, now widely recognized as a classic in the field; (b) to compare these results with some of the findings in a recent best-selling collection of case studies; (c) to summarize criticisms of the hypothesis-testing model…

Taking a philosophical approach based on what Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes said about knowledge, this paper addresses some of the murkiness in the conceptual space surrounding the issue of whether prior knowledge does or does not facilitate text comprehension. Specifically, the paper first develops a non-exhaustive typology of cases in which…

Describes an analytical model which provides explicit criteria to identify possible causal relations that a reader might infer between events in order to arrive at a coherent representation of the text. Applies the model to a story, discusses its psychological validity, and compares it to other models of text representation, comprehension, and…

Examines and discusses the differences in mathematics learning and practice in and out of school maintaining the position that while some differences may be inherent, many differences can be narrowed so that mathematics learning and practice in school and out of school can build on each other and be connected. (Author/MKR)

Approaches to assessment of prior experiential learning (APEL) sit within Enlightenment theories of knowledge. Alternative epistemologies offered by postmodernist, feminist, and antiracist theories suggest a different basis for assessment: situated knowledge. APEL can give visibility to outsider knowledge and alter the relationship between…

Children must be involved and interested in order to learn. Children who come to kindergarten with background knowledge gained from enjoyable trips with their parents, when they explored the world around them, are usually more curious about their world and experience more success in school. Good teachers connect new information in their curriculum…

Increasingly educators and policy makers recognize that new teachers need help making the transition to independent teaching. One particularly important role mentor teachers can play is to help beginning teachers to focus on students' ''mind activity'' in order to build on their prior knowledge, experience, and interests, and to promote…

This article (which is mainly expository) sets up graphical models for causation, having a bit less than the usual complement of hypothetical counterfactuals. Assuming the invariance of error distributions may be essential for causal inference, but the errors themselves need not be invariant. Graphs can be interpreted using conditional…

Evidence seems to be a particularly newsworthy topic these days, prominent in stories about weapons of mass destruction, the President's record in the National Guard, Martha Stewart's stock sales, global warming and the EPA, and so forth. "Evidence," not surprisingly, derives from "evident," which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as…