Learning is a complex phenomenon where a learner constitutes a system operating at neural, physiological, cognitive and social levels, with interactions between and across processes and levels, effecting neural to cognitive to social levels and vice versa. In tracing historical paradigms, theories of learning have been traditionally fragmented in…

For Extension educational programs to meet the educational needs of today's youths, families, and communities, Extension needs to expand "what counts" as learning. The purpose of this article is to define learning in the context of Extension. We summarize key aspects of the educational research literature by comparing two prevailing…

The emerging field of SoTL is an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor which requires embracing a diverse range of research methods and disciplinary differences in world views. This diversity has caused a lack of coherence in its conceptualization and communication, which can be confusing for new scholars. Ongoing debates in the community concern…

Lave and Wenger have greatly influenced existing views of learning and teaching, but relatively little has been written about the implications for the understanding of teacher behavior and teacher learning, and for the pedagogy of teacher education. Based on their work, a three-level model of learning is used to analyze the friction between…

Graham Nuthall's work cuts across methodological and conceptual divides that have worked against the development of a theory of learning and teaching that is at once predictive and practical. The micro-genetic approach to research on learning in classrooms that he developed with Adrienne Alton-Lee successfully transcends the unhelpful dichotomy…

The research, learning theory, and educational practices related to mathemagenic behavior are examined. The application of mathemagenic research and theory to science instruction is detailed. Instructional materials and methods useful in integrating mathemagenic research with instruction in science are outlined. (BT)

Reviews prior research on learning from instruction, presents an illustrative analysis of one relatively well studied area of research, and proposes a procedure that probabilistically increases control over theoretically significant cognitive causes of instructional effects. A 30-item reference list accompanies the text. (Author/JL)

From the monthly Saturday Review supplement, "Education in America, sponsored by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Adapted from a longer essay, "Schooling and Education, published in the 1969 edition of "The Great Ideas Today.

A 2x3x2 factorial design was used to study the effects of sex, verbalization of concepts by students, and information supplied by other students" or teachers" or performance in a multiple classification seriation task by fourth grade students. There was a significant interaction of sex and information source. (AL)

To test the hypothesis that learning depends on the influence and interaction of three primary variables--instruction, learner aptitude, and learning environment--an explanatory model was tested during the 1967-68 school year in an experiment conducted with the cooperation of a simple random sample of 56 teachers drawn from the National Science…

This presentation reports results of an investigation of the role of abstract thinking in human learning. Involved were 37 mentally retarded subjects, 62 normal subjects with equivalent chronological ages, and 50 normal subjects with chronological ages equivalent to the mean mental age of the mentally retarded group. Each subject was taught a six…

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of one semester's instruction in science and mathematics, using an inquiry-based methodology, in facilitating cognitive growth in first year college students. Results indicated the inquiry approach did not promote cognitive growth in comparison with a more didactic or expository teaching…

Investigates the effect of three models of teaching college astronomy on knowledge acquisition, based on the principles of kinetic structure analysis and the psychological concept of mass versus distributed practice. Results indicate that distributed integration is better than nondistributed integration in teaching certain fields in astronomy. (HM)

Describes an investigation undertaken to evaluate whether or not the Purdue experimental program, through its concrete curricular materials and inquiry-oriented procedures, had been successful in promoting formal reasoning abilities in its students. Results indicated that concrete curricular materials and problems can promote the development of…