Errors are often perceived as undesirable events to be avoided at all costs. However, a growing body of research suggests that making errors is, in fact, beneficial for learning. Building on human resource development literature, the present review proposes a 3P framework of approaches to errors during learning: prevention (avoiding or observing…

The concept of values is the central concept in evaluation. There are several ways of looking at values, including from the perspectives of philosophy, psychology, sociology, biology, and biography. In this article Ernest House discusses how values are conceived in cognitive psychology and what that means for evaluation. Further, he discusses the…

This article reviews the corpus of research on feedback, with a focus on formative feedback--defined as information communicated to the learner that is intended to modify his or her thinking or behavior to improve learning. According to researchers, formative feedback should be nonevaluative, supportive, timely, and specific. Formative feedback is…

This response to Azar (this volume) intends to discuss from an academic's perspective the main points raised in her paper (i.e., grammar-based instruction and its relation to focus on form and error correction) and, to encourage a more concept-based approach to grammar instruction (CBT). A CBT approach to language development argues that the…

This study investigated the development of the frontal lobe action-monitoring system from late childhood and adolescence to early adulthood using ERP markers of error processing. Error negativity (ERN) and correct response negativity (CRN) potentials were recorded while adolescents and adults (aged 12-22 years, n = 23) performed two forced-choice…

When preschoolers overcome persistent error, subsequent patterns of correct choices may identify how the error had been overcome. Children who no longer misrepresented a ball rolling down a bent tube as though it could only fall vertically, were asked sometimes to approach and sometimes to avoid where the ball landed. All children showed requisite…

The interest in the application of large-scale computerized adaptive testing has served to focus attention on issues that arise when theoretical advances are made operational. Some of these issues stem less from changes in testing conditions and more from changes in testing paradigms. One such issue is that of the order in which questions are…

A review of the literature and teacher observations are used to examine the processes and strategies by which second language learners attain and organize verbal knowledge. Classroom data are derived from experience in teaching German to Dutch-speaking university students. The analysis looks at the relationship of morphology and word recognition…

An error in the data analysis for a study reported in a 1988 paper by Kail is cited. The paper postulated a model that explained individual differences in the speed of processing on cognitive tasks. Reanalysis of the data suggested that support for the original conclusions is considerably weaker than reported. (LB)

The present study investigates the contribution of general processing resources as well as other more specific factors to the life-span development of sensorimotor synchronization and its component processes. Within a synchronization tapping paradigm, a group of 286 participants, 6 to 88 years of age, were asked to synchronize finger taps with…

Student journals are recommended as a technique for encouraging college students to take a deep approach to learning. Literature on their use is reviewed, and considerations in their classroom use are discussed, including the physical form of the journal, grading, error correction, comments, style, privacy, when to use journals, when to read them,…