To best meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population, we must develop an integrative writing pedagogy that is informed by what the cognitive and neurosciences have uncovered about learning so that our theories of learning and practices of instruction are consistent with our most current and accurate knowledge of the biological and…

The use of design patterns is now well established as an approach within the field of software systems as well as within the field of architecture. An initial effort was made to harness patterns as a tool for elaborating the design of the elements of personal learning environments as part of the University of Bolton's Personal Learning Environment…

We present the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) as a practical intervention concerning the organization of technology in education. We explain this by proposing a cybernetic model of the "Personal Learner" using Beer's Viable System Model (VSM). Using the VSM, we identify different regulatory mechanisms that maintain viability for learners, and…

This paper explores the use of learning as a practical tool in problem solving. The idea that learning should and eventually will be a vital component of most Artificial Intelligence programs is pursued. Current techniques in learning systems are compared. A detailed discussion of the problems of representing, modifying, and creating heuristics is…

It is suggested that the study of artificial intelligence can provide ways of thinking about the human mind that are potentially valuable in formulating cognitive theories. Theoretical psychology is proposed as an appropriate classification for this branch of theory. (MSE)

Can the laws of learning be applied in the classroom? The issue is whether control over the stimulus affords management-control over the learning processes within the student. The S-R (stimulus-response) position in psychology, most notably associated with Skinner, tends to accept and assert the affirmative. However, accumulated experience with…

Deciphering the learning mechanism which exists in man remains to be solved. This article examines the learning process with respect to association and cybernetics. It is recommended that research should focus on the transdisciplinary processes of learning which could become the next key concept in the science of man. (Author/MA)

Claims, despite extensive research on the role of feedback in learning, there is little theoretical understanding of the concept of feedback, because of overly broad definitions which favor certain explanations and lines of research over others. Discusses implications of feedback research for group facilitation and design of experiential learning…

Presents a learning theory in the language of cybernetics based on the tenet that the minimal experimental situation for making psychological observations is a conversation. The account is directed at generating interest in the original work by G. Pask, et al. (GS)

Attention is focused in this rather advanced discussion on human goals and human style in the face of present and anticipated future developments in the computer-based technologies as related to English education. The paper admittedly is not objective. The implications of two hypotheses are discussed: that learning systems are not necessarily a…

The cognitive learning processes of assimilation and accommodation are critically examined in this paper. A special focus is given to an analysis of the process of assimilation as it is proposed in Hugh Petrie's book, "The Dilemma of Enquiry and Learning." Initially, Piaget's biological metaphor of assimilation-accommodation is reviewed…

The work of English cybernetician Gordon Pask on learning styles and strategies is presented. An attempt is made to describe the basic ideas of Conversation Theory, Pask's general theory of cognition. The learning strategies "holism" and "serialism," and the more general learning styles "comprehension learning" and…

In this paper, two theoretical approaches to language teaching, the audio-lingual and the cognitive code methods, are examined with respect to how they deal with feedback in the classroom situation. Audio-lingual theorists either ignore completely the need for feedback in the classroom or deal with it only in terms of its reinforcing attributes.…