An assignment given to students at the end of an advanced composition class empowers students by helping them grasp principles and develop abilities that allow them to get beyond needing teachers. The crux of the assignment is a heuristic for analyzing any particular type of writing for the purpose of learning to produce it. The students are…

A study examined whether the reading comprehension of students with rich domain-specific knowledge will be better than that of students without it and whether assessed general skills will be correlated significantly with reading comprehension performance for students without specific knowledge, but negligible for the students with much specific…

Much of the current work in reading comprehension features the idea that reading for meaning involves metacognitive activity of comprehension monitoring, which entails keeping track of the success with which one's comprehension is proceeding, ensuring that the process continues smoothly, and taking remedial action if necessary. The resurgence of…

F. C. Bartlett's concept of "attitude" is used in this paper as a point of departure for the creation of a model of the complementary functioning of discursive and experiential memorial representation. The paper first discusses several of the memorial functions of experiential representation, in particular the integrative function…

Prereading teaching strategies that help students connect schemata in their head with the information on the page are important components of reading instruction. Three prereading strategies that serve the purpose of stimulating linking activity are posing related questions, presenting reaction statements, and introducing concept stimuli. Related…

In a study investigating the nature of questioning, a group of subjects with little relevant knowledge and a group with a great deal of relevant knowledge were asked to prepare a chocolate mousse. During the preparation, the subjects were allowed to ask any number of questions and each was answered immediately. Results showed that the number of…

A series of experiments investigated the role of prior knowledge in tasks involving the operation of equipment from written instructions. The experiments covered two situations. In the first, the prior knowledge was already possessed by the subjects before the experiments. The studies involved comprehension and memory of technical prose, expertise…

A study assessed the effects of text structure and prior knowledge about its content on comprehension and recall of text by fourth and eighth grade students. Three groups, each with 15 students, were tested at each grade level. Subjects in the prior knowledge group heard and mastered a passage on one day and then heard, freely recalled, and…

Although it is commonly assumed that increases in mathematical knowledge and problem-solving skill alter one's understanding of mathematical problems, little research exists to support this assumption. The present study investigated the relationship between mathematical background and problem perception in two experiments. Experiment 1 employed…

The hypothesis that feedback in programmed instruction is an important variable in the learning of novel, but not familiar, content was investigated. A linear, constructed response program dealing with the Sabbath rituals in the synagogue was chosen due to wide variability in student familiarity with this topic. Subjects were randomly assigned to…

This guidebook is written for those who question the process of earning credit for experience and what knowledge and skills might lead to a credit award, and should assist educators who are approached for accreditation of knowledge and skills learned on a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)-funded job. There are five sections: the…

This guide is designed to aid instructional personnel in all areas of vocational education in the articulation of secondary and postsecondary programs through verification of student competencies. It presents general information on what program articulation is and why it is important, how articulation may be achieved in the least constraining…

Sex differences in influencability have emerged when discrepant advocacies were accompanied by greater expertise in the subject matter by men or women. Two types of stimuli, one about which men relative to women had high prior knowledge (football tackles) and one about which women had higher prior knowledge (women's fashions), were selected. Men…

This study compared adults' impressions of rock music with those of teenagers and found vast differences. Youths reported hearing subjects relating to their lives such as "growing up" while adults heard more references to sex and violence. Perhaps the differing impressions reflect differences in learning, experience, and literary…

The reasoning of caregivers is discussed in the context of preventing childhood accidents. This reasoning process, which uses knowledge about children's behavior in an environment, leads to appropriate preventive actions on the part of the caregiver. Illustrative examples of parents interacting with children are presented. (VM)