This study examined how, and under what conditions, teacher clarity (i.e., structure/signaling) impacts student learning. One hundred and forty eight students reported their propensity to approach their studies with a mastery orientation and were randomly exposed to a lesson on persuasion that was either signaled or not. After the lesson, students…

This article describes a research study in which 10 early childhood education students participated in facilitated critical reflection experiences during a 7-week practicum. Students' critical thinking skills were quantitatively assessed using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test and qualitatively documented through analysis of daily, weekly, and…

In multiple-list learning, retrieval during learning has been suggested to improve recall of the single lists by enhancing list discrimination and, at test, reducing interference. Using electrophysiological, oscillatory measures of brain activity, we examined to what extent retrieval during learning facilitates list encoding. Subjects studied 5…

The word length effect, the finding that lists of short words are better recalled than lists of long words, has been termed one of the benchmark findings that any theory of immediate memory must account for. Indeed, the effect led directly to the development of working memory and the phonological loop, and it is viewed as the best remaining…

Two correlational investigations attempted to establish the construct validity of the dimensions assessed by the Inventory of Learning Processes scales. The scales are Synthesis-Analysis; Study Methods; Fact Retention; and Elaborative Processing. A number of cognitive tests were also administered. (MH)

Case studies involving learning styles and strategies in English as a second language are examined, based on previous research in which two English pilot tests were administered to a sample of Finnish University students. Those who scored high and low on the two tests were selected for structured interviews, where attention was directed to…

This research contrasts the learning effects of an affective dimension of meaningfulness with the word-quality of consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams. Subject rated trigrams for both "association value"--having word-quality versus lacking word-quality--and "reinforcement value"--liking versus disliking the trigram regardless of word quality. Paired…

Investigates the effect of intensive instruction in cue attendance upon the ability of preservice elementary science methods students to solve paper-and-pencil reasoning tests that require a form of formal operation thought. (Author/HM)

The way that Open University students study technology (T100) and social science (D101) foundation courses was investigated using an inventory developed at Lancaster University. A comparison of study approaches of Open University and conventional university students, and data derived from student interviews were analyzed. The Lancaster inventory,…