This experiment examined learning differences between students who read instructional examples that varied in the order that information was presented. In an online lesson about advice giving, 275 students were randomly assigned to a learning condition where the order of instructional information moved either from (a) concrete examples to abstract…

Reading academic hypertext documents in college brings a new level of complexity that changes the definition of college reading and literacy. Knowing how to read these unpredictable, nonlinear texts requires familiarity and practice. The author describes the nature and usefulness of hypertext, reviews the challenges of reading hypertext, and…

The focus of the article is on the complex cognitive process involved in learning the concept of "straightness" in Non-Euclidean geometry. Learning new material is viewed through a conflict resolution framework, as a student questions familiar assumptions understood in Euclidean geometry. A case study reveals how mathematization of the straight…

Reviews the current literature concerning prior knowledge in an attempt to clarify problems with the terminology. Identifies the three main problems: lack of definition or vagueness, nominal versus real definitions, and different names/same constructs or same name/different constructs. Includes a conceptual map of prior knowledge terminology. (MJP)