Examines how the aquarium has attempted to move from a transfer view of knowledge to a constructivist approach in its most popular general public program--the killer whale presentation. The process of change that staff underwent is similar to conceptual change processes among learners of science. Describes constructivist strategies of conceptual…

Explores how research in learning styles can benefit from findings in cognitive psychology. Discusses difficulties of research on learning styles and two relevant findings in cognitive research: the influence of prior knowledge on learning and the potential value to learners of metacognitive awareness. Urges rigorous conceptual and empirical…

Two questions are examined: the relationship between prior to formal experience (high school instruction) and success on university foreign language proficiency tests, and the similarity of prior experience to pass rates for students of varying languages. (LB)

Studies of the relationship between students' propositional knowledge (as measured by concept mapping tasks) and their study strategies (as measured by self-report questionnaires) for electricity in first-year university courses are described. The effect of propositional knowledge and prior knowledge on both conceptual knowledge and study…

Discusses results of a study based on a sample of secondary school teachers in Germany that was conducted to analyze the relationships between prior knowledge of content- and context-area topics and teaching practices in the computer education curriculum. The use of path analysis is described, and gender differences are examined. (Contains 11…

Describes three learner assessment strategies and their possible effects on text design strategies for distance education materials. Prior knowledge, reading ability and text readability, and learning styles are examined; learner characteristics and potential instructional strategies are discussed; and the relationship of learning styles to…

Discusses the undereducated U.S. workforce and the resulting need for workforce education. Highlights include personalized systems of instruction; individualized instructional programs; cognitive processing; prior knowledge; time on task; feedback and assessment; metacognition; motivational links; and the need for a multilayered approach to…

Considers the role of library and information science professionals as knowledge engineers. Highlights include knowledge acquisition, including personal experience, interviews, protocol analysis, observation, multidimensional sorting, printed sources, and machine learning; knowledge representation, including production rules and semantic nets;…

Discusses results of a survey of undergraduate students that investigated their current knowledge of computers and the level of knowledge they would like to have. Attitudes of students who had prior computer courses or who owned a computer were found to be more positive than those of students who did not. (27 references) (LRW)

Describes a study that was conducted to explore the attitudes of school library media specialists toward the use of technology and to examine whether the factors of experience, education, professional organization involvement, school assignment, school location, and technologies available in the school library affect those attitudes. (seven…

Reports on a study that examined transaction logs of end users of PaperChase searching UM-MEDLINE at the University of Michigan to describe the use of various search features and to determine the effects of search experience on the use of search features. Boolean operators are discussed, and further studies are suggested. (23 references) (LRW)

This study investigated student teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning, examining how prior beliefs were affected as students progressed through their programs. Observations and interviews at three different times indicated subjects maintained their personal philosophies of teaching and learning and their original metaphor(s), though their…

Explains the work of a primary-research group focusing on the practical aspects of the use of scale in science. Reports on three studies that look at the impact of the representation of scale in different areas related to the Standard Assessment Tasks (SAT). (DDR)

Examined elaboration strategy--verbal elaboration, imagery, or keyword--use as a function of prior knowledge with students in grades two, four, and six. Found support for elaborative interrogation for all grade levels when learners had access to an extensive network of information. Imagery appeared to be the strategy of choice when background…

Compares characteristics of students taking programming-oriented versus applications-oriented higher education courses. Topics include computer engagement, programming experience, computing attitudes, a greater gender imbalance in enrollment on the programming-oriented course, the usefulness of psychometric measures, discriminant function…