Examines issues in the controversy between constructivists and instructional systems design (ISD) that were raised in an earlier issue. Students' prior knowledge is discussed, the development of prepackaged instructional materials is considered, transfer of training and prior learning are discussed, and the need for greater attention to research…

Discusses common flaws in Anticipation Guide statements (teacher generated statements, used in teaching expository reading, about a topic that students respond to before reading about that topic). Offers guidelines for writing statements and examples of ineffective and effective statements. (SR)

Ninth graders (n=30 and n=39) who learned to use a prior knowledge activation (PKA) strategy consistently outperformed students in a main-idea strategy treatment group (n=25 and n=43) and those in a no-instruction control group (n=24 and n=44) on application-level questions but not on literal-level questions. (SLD)

Examines aspects of informal learning: (1) credit toward formal qualifications; (2) the value of nontraditional knowledge; (3) learners' awareness of their own learning; and (4) sensitivity of informal learning to context. Concludes that informal learning does not fit with the narrow view of knowledge in formal education and learners are often…

Analyzes and compares the types and frequencies of background knowledge children use during independent emergent readings, and those children and teachers use in group-shared reading experiences that precede emergent readings. Uses this information to provide evidence for a model of reading as an activity constrained by contextual factors such as…

Action-learning techniques and acknowledgment of prior experience are components of integrated workshops for Australian agriculture producers in a program known as Futureprofit. Evaluations show the program effectively improves producers' planning, communication, and decision making through adherence to adult learning principles. (SK)

Presents an activity in which students propose that apples change their color as they ripen. Students gain content knowledge about decomposition, the growth of living mold, and the life cycle of fruit flies through purposeful inquiry connected to previous knowledge. (ASK)

Describes the development and evaluation of a placement test used as a major determinant of eligibility to enroll in first-semester general chemistry at California State University, Fullerton. Contains 17 references. (WRM)

Discusses how new college students engage in "self-placement" in a writing course by answering a series of questions about themselves and listening to an explanation of the process by instructors. Discusses the effectiveness of this placement program, and presents positive comments from all involved. (PA)

Determined the separate and combined effects of knowledge maps or texts and teaching props (overview maps or outlines) on the learning of two different sets of material in the context of cooperative teaching. Results from 102 undergraduates show that the effects of format of study materials or communication props depend on the prior knowledge of…

Argues that elementary language-arts teachers should expand their definition of "text" to include film, a valuable instructional material. Notes that today's elementary students come to class with a great deal of knowledge about films--prior experiences which teachers can tap into. Discusses the application to film of reader-response theories. (SR)

Studied the collaborative strategies used in an experimental design task by 24 high- and low-prior knowledge of medical students in groups of 4. The high prior knowledge group used knowledge to help construct plans, evaluate actions, and stay focused. The low prior knowledge group was less systematic and worked at mapping the connections between…

Investigates the relative contribution and trade-off effects of children's knowledge and reading skill in text comprehension. Finds that domain knowledge and reading skill can be traded in order to achieve similar levels of comprehension. Suggests that reading skill compensates for deficient knowledge and specific knowledge compensates for…

Studied the use of prior knowledge state assessment for enhancing learning through a series of experiments involving college students (n=112, n=1,159, n=1,081). Results show that beginning students are especially willing to use prior knowledge state assessment and appear to benefit more from its use. (SLD)

Three experiments examined how 4- to 10-year-olds' domain knowledge and observation of exemplars interact during concept acquisition and how exposure to novel exemplars causes knowledge revision. In all experiments, prior knowledge and exemplar observation independently influenced children's categorization judgments. Use of prior knowledge was…