A growing need for utilizing school-based HIV/AIDS interventions the world over has been acknowledged as the most cost-effective means for arresting the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic among the vulnerable youth. However, the question on how teachers as educational change agents and cognitive sense-makers of HIV/AIDS curricula situated in a…

Russell Tufts University This study examines the potential of designing and teaching online courses to prompt university faculty members to reflect on the essence of good teaching, and as a result reconsider their beliefs concerning effective pedagogy. A phenomenological investigation was conducted based on interviews with six long-time university…

Defining intelligence is a puzzle that has challenged educators and researchers for years. More recently, professionals are acknowledging that individuals possess many facets of intelligence and that learning is a complex combination of genetic factors, environmental influences, and life experiences that affect learning in unique ways (Salvia,…

In this study, qualitative evidence is collected--through classroom observations and teacher and student interviews--to study the effect of metacognition and the interaction between students' observable cognitive behaviour and the instructional task. This qualitative data is analysed to identify what factors support and improve students'…

Challenges the tendency of instructional developers to dwell upon systematic processes of Instructional Development (ID) and argues that ID is more an art in which the end results must be worthwhile, relevant, and capable of justification. Sixteen references are listed. (MER)

The article examines the nature of performance deficits in exceptional learners as they relate to the ability to perform complex cognitive tasks. (PHR)

Discusses how behavioral objectives and knowledge are related, what form a performance test theory should take, why some people can skip prerequisites whereas others cannot, how people discover new information, the relationship between content and performance analysis, and, how one might apply the structural approach in adaptive instruction.…

Six experiments were conducted to determine whether idea checklists increased idea quantity and quality. College students were allowed 10 or 20 minutes or unlimited time to find ideas for product improvement problems. Results indicated that the only checklist which significantly stimulated productivity was composed of just seven general categories…

Forty-seven elementary and middle school students, most with learning disabilities, used a computer-assisted instruction program which rapidly presented seven pieces of information or one which cumulatively presented smaller information "chunks." Both groups worked to mastery level successfully, but the cumulative group spent one-third…

An investigation was conducted to ascertain the effects of the structured overview on both the short-term and long-term comprehension of average and below average readers. The subjects were 143 college students classified as average or below average readers and randomly assigned to either a structured overview (65) or a control group (78). Both…

This book is designed to help students become better test takers. It is intended for teachers, but would be helpful to parents who think that their children's test scores do not completely represent their knowledge or abilities. Test taking skills are those skills that, when used effectively, contribute to a "test-wise" individual who can use…

The role of performance assessments in making cognitive activity apparent to teachers and students was studied through descriptions of the cognitive activity of 31 fifth-grade students. Differences while carrying out a science performance assessment reveal critical differences between those who think and reason well with their knowledge of…

The role of reinforcement has long been an issue in learning theory. The effects of reinforcement in learning were investigated under circumstances which made the information necessary for correct performance equally available to reinforced and nonreinforced subjects. Fourth graders (N=36) were given a pre-test of 20 items from the Peabody Picture…

This article discusses the role of perceived self-efficacy during classroom learning of cognitive skills. Self-efficacy refers to personal judgments of performance capabilities in a given domain of activity. Students enter classroom activities with various aptitudes and prior experiences, which affect their initial sense of self-efficacy for…