The function of accurately monitoring one's own learning is to support effective control of study that enhances learning. Although this link between monitoring accuracy and learning is intuitively plausible and is assumed by general theories of self-regulated learning, it has not received a great deal of empirical scrutiny and no study to date has…

Students are frequently presented with novel visualizations introducing scientific concepts and processes normally unobservable to the naked eye. Despite being unfamiliar, students are expected to understand and employ the visualizations to solve problems. Domain experts exhibit more competency than novices when using complex visualizations, but…

Research on cognitive load theory (CLT) has not yet provided facet-specific measures of cognitive load. The lack of valid methods to measure intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive load makes it difficult to empirically test theoretical explanations of effects caused by manipulations of instructional designs. This situation also imposes…

The variability in deep and surface learning has been discussed as part of the trait vs. state debate. However, the question is to what extent students change strategies as a function of course demands. This study focused on discerning subgroups of learners with respect to variability in learning strategies and the role of students' learning…

In a self-report study, students (N = 704, mean age: 13.5 years) were confronted with two scenarios, depicting situations of motivational conflict. They were asked to choose between a school and a leisure activity. A model was tested with value orientations as determinants and successful self-regulation as the consequence of the decision reached…

There is a scarcity of research regarding help seeking in the context of computer learning environments providing on-demand help, a context in which help-seeking skills appear critical for learning [Aleven, V., Stahl, E., Schworm, S., Fisher, F., & Wallace, R. (2003). "Help seeking and help design in interactive learning environments." "Review of…

Studied developmental trends in social aspects of self-knowledge for 461 adolescent girls and boys. Results suggest that Individuality and Belonging are separate constructs, with considerable variability among adolescents. Discusses implications for the study of individual differences and age-related variations in the personal and social basis of…

Studied the effects of a university educational reform project on students' learning and individual differences in students' responses to similar instructional measures. In 2 studies, involving 77 students and 84 in the final experimental group samples (original samples and control groups were somewhat larger), the reforms mainly failed to…

Two studies involving approximately 200 children aged 4 to 12 years show the expected increases in the level of cognitive competencies but show that these increases are not universal. Large inter- and intraindividual differences are found for various types of memory tasks as well as for different domains of scholastic achievement. (SLD)

Three models representing different relations between intellectual ability, metacognitive skills, and learning were compared. The conditions under which each of these models holds were investigated, on the basis of the threshold of problematicity theory [Elshout, J. J. (1987). Problem solving and education. In E. De Corte, H. Lodewijks, R.…

Studied individual differences in learning to teach for 30 secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. Findings from interviews identified five orientations to learning to teach. These orientations may be indicative of how progress in the quality of individual learning evolves. (SLD)

The representational abilities of 24 preschool children were investigated in relation to their ability to use their knowledge of graphic notation. Although the children came from similar backgrounds, their responses showed varying constructs about the appropriate graphic notation to use in referential tasks. (SLD)

Studied possible interactions of students' inter-individual differences and features of cooperative learning in samples of 208 eighth graders and 138 12th graders. Uncertainty oriented students in the first study used the opportunities of cooperative learning to discuss results with others. In the second study, the degree of implementation of…

Word-search strategies were studied in a longitudinal design with 56 Swiss children from kindergarten through grade two. Results show clear developmental trends from logographic, to assembled alphabetic, to alphabetic/orthographic addressed strategies. Differences in progression through the phases were linked to reading and spelling. (SLD)