Examines students' construction of experimentation models for physics theories in energy storage, transformation, and transfers involving electricity and mechanics. Student problem solving dialogs and artificial intelligence modeling of these processes is analyzed. Construction of models established relations between elements with linear causal…

Reports on a study of human problem-solving behavior in which a technique called First-Order Cognitive Analysis was employed to analyze the tasks involved in certain accounting processes such as bookkeeping. A reference list, an appendix outlining the problem employed in the study, and an appendix on the task analysis are attached. (JL)

Describes the Elaboration Theory of Instruction (ETI) and charts its correspondence with several major principles drawn from contemporary cognitive psychology. Components of the ETI are related to current models of knowledge representation, schema theory, memory processes, and earlier cognitive based instructional frameworks. Fifty-three…

Three alternative tools to knowledge-based educational modeling were developed, using ideas from knowledge acquisition research, and their effectiveness was compared to that of an established rule-based shell. Children working with the new tools produced higher quality models and developed more positive attitudes. Knowledge acquisition systems and…

Outlines a proposed model for understanding the human information processing system, which is conceptualized in terms of three interrelated major elements--executive, working, and long-term memory--with emphasis on the structure of long-term memory. Thirty-one references are listed. (MBR)

The proposed three-step strategy for research on human information processing--concept hierarchy analysis, analysis of example sets to teach relations among concepts, and analysis of problem sets to build a progressively larger schema for the problem space--may lead to practical procedures for instructional design and task analysis. Sixty-four…

Presents an approach to task sequencing that is based on a component-skills view of intelligence and learning. Related research in cognitive psychology and in computer based instruction is reviewed, and a cognitive model of human task sequencing is developed and then applied to an intelligent tutoring system for algebra. (39 references)…

The model described, which views the learner as a resource-limited system that has to transform instructional information, includes six factors for expected success. Although based on microscopic psychological theories, it can be applied at more macroscopic levels of analysis by increasing the size of instructional units. Five references are…

Describes the reconstruction of a conventional thermodynamics curriculum using the Galperin theory of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and Landa's description of the "through" systematization of knowledge, and discusses the generalizability of the procedures followed in developing the plan for instruction. A 33-item…

Presents the concept of a work model which is a unit of practice within a computer based instructional system allowing replication of both information and interaction. The model also addresses some of the fundamental problems with objectives, e.g., richness of terminal behavior and relation to content. Ten references are listed. (CHC)

Discusses how the reverse engineering approach can generate feedback on computer programs without the user having any prior knowledge of what the program was designed to do. This approach uses the cognitive model of programming knowledge to interpret both context independent and dependent errors in the same words and concepts as human programmers.…

Two experiments examined the role of analogy in the development of a situation model of a target passage, specifically, whether an analogous source text could improve comprehension and inferencing about causal mechanisms in the target. Responses of analogy subjects were more likely to include given and inferred information that comprised the…

From an ecological psychology perspective, a full analysis of any learning context must acknowledge the complex nonlinear dynamics that unfold as an intentionally-driven learner interacts with a technology-based purposefully designed learning environment. A full situation model would need to incorporate constraints from the environment and also…

Describes a case study which used the Agency for Instructional Television instructional development model to develop a television series on economics. Findings show how the model guided the series, its advantages, and its strengths and limitations, and identifies discrepancies between ideal use of instructional development and actual application.…

Presents an instructional strategy based on the thesis that science concept learning involves cognitive accommodation of an initially held framework. The three stages of the strategy--exposing alternative frameworks, creating conceptual conflict, and encouraging cognitive accommodation--are illustrated in two lessons on the particle model of…