Sixty young children estimated their performance in beanbag throwing. In the three prediction conditions, subjects articulated the differences between their performance and their predictions, only observed the difference, or were unable to observe their performance. Results indicated subjects were aware of differences between performance and…

Whether informal subject-oriented prior-knowledge state assessment or information progress-assessment results in increased study pace or a positive effect on final test results was studied with over 9500 open education college students. Student characteristics related to differences in participation in information-assessment procedures were…

Describes a study conducted with mature students at the Open University (Great Britain) who entered with low educational qualifications. Using a social cognitive framework, a model of credible and tentative students was developed which focuses on the interplay between psychological, social, and institutional issues which affected their study.…

Describes approaches taken with concepts associated with exponential functions by using graphing calculators to provide students with concrete meaning for the sometimes abstract concepts involved and to link students' learning with their existing knowledge. (ASK)

Examines the development of reading skill during the first school year using preschool motivational orientation, coping tendencies, knowledge of alphabet, and phonemic awareness as predictors. Finds that preschool phonemic awareness and task orientation are associated with enhanced word-reading fluency. (DSK)

Reviews Northern Virginia Community College's Prior Learning Activity for Credit Evaluation (PLACE) program, which helps returning adult students and those attending college for the first time capitalize on their experiences and earn college credit for them. Describes the author's grant-related activities of revising PLACE's workbook and teaching…

Examined the effects of text-based tasks and background knowledge on incidental vocabulary acquisition among adult English-as-a-Second-Language-learners who received treatments involving reading and retelling text with or without generative training. Pretesting and posttesting indicated that reading and retelling promoted incidental vocabulary…

Discusses next generation distance education systems, which include research in cognitive science, systems science, and communication theory to provide a learning environment with student autonomy congruent to prior learning, learning objectives, and content materials to be mastered. Describes Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), object…

This study examined levels of techophobia, described as negative psychological reactions toward technology, in a sample of South African university students. Describes use of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and reports results that show techophobia was inversely correlated with computer experience, weakly correlated with age, but not associated with…

Shows that the construction of mental representations that capture a situation based on the comprehension of a diagram are mediated by the possession of appropriate background knowledge. Indicates that background knowledge deficiencies may make it difficult for beginning students of a domain to construct suitable mental representations from…

Investigates the effects of a constructivist versus objectivist learning environment on college students' conceptual change using a computer simulation of the human cardiovascular system as an instructional tool. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Suggests that the teaching/learning/research process should be rethought of as a collaborative social learning for constructivism to be meaningful in science education. Includes perspectives on George Kelly's personal construct psychology and Glaserfeld's radical constructivism. (AIM)

Describes a model for addressing prerequisite mathematics needs. A small set of prerequisite skills for the content course is identified and assessed, and students needing extra help are assisted. Targeted students include those with only marginal deficits rather than those needing full course remediation. Presents results from empirical testing…

Examined how object shape, taxonomic relatedness, and prior lexical knowledge influenced children's overextensions (e.g., referring to pomegranates as apples). Researchers presented items that disentangled the three factors and used a novel comprehension task where children could indicate negative exemplars. Error patterns differed by task and by…

Examines reader and text variables related to conceptual change learning from science textbooks. Shows it is difficult to change readers' prior knowledge by reading texts that are inconsistent with that knowledge, but refutation text was shown to impact students' prior knowledge when that knowledge contained naive scientific conceptions. Addresses…