The objective of this study was to identify those cognitive characteristics that best differentiate the Navy's Basic Electricity and Electronics (BE/E) Preparatory School graduates and failures. Subjects included 207 BE/E students--172 graduates and 35 failures. Before these trainees had commenced BE/E School, they were administered six tests of…

This paper examines and critiques several learning style inventories (LSI) in an effort to find the optimal research instrument for a proposed empirical study of both the quality of courseware and the impact of courseware characteristics on variations of learning effectiveness due to learner characteristics. Five LSIs are examined: (1) Dunn LSI;…

Two statistical indices of distinctness (intensity) were developed to measure patterns of cognitive preference scores. Results indicated a variety of cognitive preferences, and the distinctness variable was shown to be a useful tool in cognitive preference research. (CJ)

To determine whether individual differences in student achievement and learning rate are reduced or eliminated by mastery instruction, 166 navy trainees who completed a computer-managed course in basic electricity and electronics were cluster analyzed using 24 measures of cognitive characteristics. Discriminant analyses were computed between two…

Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their…

Investigated were students' beliefs about the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, various sources of students' beliefs as well as those factors that have altered students' beliefs about science, and the implications of students' beliefs for daily personal and societal decisions. The research methodology and instructional implications are…

The development of two dominant research traditions is described: students' approaches to learning (SAL) and information processing (IP). The development of the third tradition, self-regulated learning (SRL) is added. SAL is based on European research, whereas IP and SRL are more typical background ideas for North-American research. The most…