This paper describes the possible effects of feedback on learning (associations) using a connectionist tool, the delta rule. Feedback in instruction can be described in terms of the interaction of stimulus inputs and response outputs, an associationist perspective. Here the delta rule is applied to each instance that an input and an output likely…

Massively parallel programming languages, like StarLogo, provide a rich environment for introducing differential equations to students with an unsophisticated mathematical background. This paper describes the basic software for stimulating and monitoring various population dynamics. Simple differential equations that describe the observed dynamics…

Developing standards of the heart means becoming a caring, contributing, productive, and responsible member of society. It includes being successful in school; making responsible decisions; caring about others; contributing to society; developing social and personal skills, such as problem solving, accepting various perspectives, and setting and…

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a new system of international assessments that focus on 15-year-olds' capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy. PISA, which is sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), also measures general or cross-curricular…

During the 2000-2001 school year, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy conducted a study of how public high schools in Washington State are responding to state education reform. One aspect of the study was the experiences of high schools with various strategies to increase student engagement in learning. This paper summarizes study…

This paper examines, through historical analysis, the values and beliefs underpinning the early theories and applications of problem-based learning and contrasts these with current theory and practice. This study focuses on the first three decades of the twentieth century, because, during this time period, the use of projects in education became…

A team consisting of three faculty members from Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness management, and Food Science with two research assistants at Penn State University has been working for three years on creating a food product case library for a problem-based learning and case-based instruction course. With the assistance of experts from the food…

Students learned the numerical order of 14 U.S. Presidents through either a complex mnemonic strategy or their own technique. Performance pattern differences were detected between the groups, chiefly serial position profiles produced by those using their own techniques, and slower response time of subjects using mnemonic strategies. (Author/MBR)

Concludes that fourth-grade children were able to apply more phonics terms than they could define and that high ability readers could define more terms than could low level readers. (FL)

Describes an instructional procedure based on the findings of schema research and illustrating the truth that the more students know about a subject, the better they can comprehend what they read about that subject. (FL)

Examined is the effectiveness of three imagery learning strategies (copy, relational, and hierarchical) for acquiring different outcomes when individuals received visual instructional information varying in visual stimulus complexity. The hierarchical strategy was generally more effective in processing the different levels of information than the…

The effects of a diversified imaginal and verbal elaboration strategy training program upon the learning and retention (efficiency) of ninth-grade students was investigated. The results, using free recall, modified serial recall, paired-associate learning, and reading comprehension tests, indicate that students can be trained to use elaboration to…

Discusses four major research problems concerned with the application of learning strategies in the context of computer-based military technical training that have been addressed by an ongoing four-year effort. Nineteen references are listed. (LLS)

Observation of undergraduate students in an anthropology course was used to evaluate the impacts of learning strategies, group size, and sex composition of groups on successful interaction with a computer simulation. Sixteen references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Advances in technology have encouraged educators to devise ways to make the educational experience more efficient and productive. The computer is a dynamic new tool for developing a range of cognitive skills. (JN)