This study investigates the progression of students' meaning-making of epigenetic phenomena while discussing multiple visual representations depicted at different levels of biological organization. Semi-structured focus group sessions involving ninth-grade students (aged 15-16) from a Swedish lower secondary school were video recorded. Students'…

It has been controversial whether the matching of learning styles with teaching environment has improved the teaching effects. This paper constructs matching modes by choosing Sternberg's three learning styles (liberal leaning, internal scope and global level) and adopts curriculum comprehensiveness and instructing modes. The research, based on…

Recent research has uncovered significant concerns about the validity of some types of college student self-reports. This study examines the extent to which student reports about a critical type of college experience--good teaching practices--may be biased as a function of students' intellectual orientations and cognitive reasoning abilities.…

With a theory-driven interest in the factors that make some language learners more successful than others, this study attempts to measure the cognitive diversity level of EFL learners at a Saudi university. To achieve this purpose, the Ehrman and Leaver's questionnaire of learners' cognitive profiles (Ehrman & Leaver, 2003) was adapted,…

The present study examines the influence of ambiguity tolerance on the performance of Iranian GFL-learners (Note 1) at level B1 in the processing of gap-filling-text tests. It is assumed that learners with more tolerance of ambiguity achieve better results in the reading comprehension or in the contextual guessing of the omitted words. 34 GFL…

This study tested two cognitive models, learning styles and dual coding, which make contradictory predictions about how learners process and retain visual and auditory information. Learning styles-based instructional practices are common in educational environments despite a questionable research base, while the use of dual coding is less…

This paper reports a case study that explores the cognitive process and the language learning strategies and styles that one Spanish trainee used to become a good English language learner. The participant held an in-depth, semi-structured interview and completed a learning style survey. Results show that the conscious use of multiple…

Through an analysis of students' reactions to transcription exercises, this exploratory study examined some of the differences between two forms of written help enhancing listening passages--second language (L2) captions and transcripts. This primarily qualitative analysis highlighted the role that student proficiency levels may have played in…

Students on an enterprise course running in a number of colleges in the UK in which invention and innovation formed part of the curriculum were asked to complete a questionnaire immediately upon having an inventive thought in an attempt to establish the thinking processes involved. Results from those who had ideas that subsequently proved to be…

Mixed visuals of numbers and graphs are available in various financial reports that demonstrate the financial status and risks of a firm. GWN (graphs with numbers) and TWG (table of numbers with graphs) were used as two alternative visuals derived from the actual data of two large public companies, one from food manufacturing industry (food) and…

Motivational theory is often used to develop strategies for boosting student effort on assessments, particularly in low stakes situations. Increasing students' cognitive engagement on such assessments may also impact student effort. However, before such interventions can be evaluated, a sound measure of cognitive engagement must be identified.…

To improve vocabulary learning and teaching in ELT settings, two questionnaires are designed and directed to more than 100 students and teachers in one of China's key universities. The findings suggest that an enhanced awareness of cultural difference, metaphorical competence, and learners' autonomy in vocabulary acquisition will effectively…

This 126-item test, the Learning Style Profile, was designed to assess 23 scales involving learners' cognitive skills, as well as emotional and environmental study preferences such as noise and temperature. It contains both verbal and pictorial items. The test was designed for sixth- through twelfth-grade students and has a readability level…

This paper examines different types of student learning styles and outlines a four-step process for identifying and integrating these learning styles to provide students with the most effective educational experience possible. The paper lists five dimensions along which most learning styles can be categorized--global-analytical, verbal-imaginal,…

Learning style is the foundation of successful teaching and teaching for thinking. The recent conceptualization of the brain as a complex system for processing and storing information can be meaningful to educators. Too many schools, however, rely on a rather mechanistic approach to learning. Future school administrators must be taught to…