There has been much interest in using software tools to scaffold learners in complex tasks, that is, to provide supports that enable students to deal with more complex content and skill demands than they could otherwise handle. Many different approaches to scaffolding techniques have been presented in a broad range of software tools. I argue that…

The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) offers 199 courses with online features to enhance the distance learning environment. The university has arranged these courses to provide students with greater flexibility in interacting with tutors, classmates, and the content itself. Integral to learner flexibility online is access, valuing computers and…

This article describes how preservice teachers are afforded opportunities for developing self-regulation as they learn to transition to the other side of the desk in their teacher education program. The article focuses on self-regulated learning as it applies to teachers' work in the classroom and distinguishes volitional work styles and student…

This article reports on the findings of a Delphi study conducted to determine research needs in educational technology over the next five years. The Delphi panel consisted of 30 educational technology experts from throughout the United States who participated in a three-round consensus building process via the Internet. The results of this…

An important touchstone of distance education has been to contribute to the development of individual learners whatever their life circumstances. The first half of the article provides an overview of this contribution and of the understanding and awareness that has been developed about distance learners in their individual learning contexts. The…

Interviews university students in modern physics about their understanding of three fundamental experiments. Explores their development of models of microscopic processes. Uses interactive demonstrations to probe student understanding of modern physics experiments in two high school physics classes. Analyzes the nature of students' models and the…

This study investigated ability-related differences in strategy use and development in the domain of simple arithmetic, in terms of the model of strategic change, using the choice/no-choice method and the chronological-age/ability-level-match design. Twenty-six second-graders with strong mathematical abilities (MA), 25 second-graders with weak MA,…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross-cultural test of three U.S.-based immediacy--learning models and to compare a proposed integrating model with the existing models in Chinese classrooms. The findings suggested that the affective learning model provided a better fit than the learning model, which had a better fit than the motivation…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of most to least prompting on teaching pedestrian skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Five individuals with developmental disabilities were taught three different pedestrian skills, all related to crossing the streets, using simulation activities on a road model…

Basic and applied research related to the effects of interspersing trials of maintenance (i.e., review) tasks among trials of acquisition tasks on academic skill development is reviewed. In general, empirical research suggests that interspersing procedures are effective in facilitating acquisition, learning rate, and maintenance. However, some…

Countless cases of plagiarism are detected across the Australian higher education sector each year. Generally speaking, policy and other responses to the issue focus on punitive, rather than on educative, measures. Recently, a subtle shift is discernable. As well as ensuring appropriate consequences for plagiarists, several universities are…

The present study investigated fluid and crystallized intelligence as well as strategic task approaches as potential sources of age-related differences in adult learning performance. Therefore, 45 young and 45 old adults were asked to learn pictured objects. Overall, young participants outperformed old participants in this learning test. However,…

A conceptual framework for assessing student motivation and self-regulated learning in the college classroom is presented. The framework is based on a self-regulatory (SRL) perspective on student motivation and learning in contrast to a student approaches to learning (SAL) perspective. The differences between SRL and SAL approaches are discussed,…

Traditionally, Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has focused on instructional methods to decrease extraneous cognitive load so that available cognitive resources can be fully devoted to learning. This article strengthens the cognitive base of CLT by linking cognitive processes to the processes used by biological evolution. The article discusses recent…

This study investigated the degree to which students cognitively engage with their online courses. Cognitive engagement was defined as the integration and utilization of students' motivations and strategies in the course of their learning. Given this, the study utilized J. B. Biggs's (1987a) Study Process Questionnaire to measure motivations and…