Student engagement plays a vital role in improving students' learning outcomes. Traditional educational assessments of engagement have many limitations, which undermine the understanding of the mechanisms by which engagement affects learning and broad educational practices that leverage engagement. Through a mixed-methods approach and multimodal…

This article synthesizes the conclusions of the empirical studies in this special issue and outlines key questions in future research. The research reported in this volume has identified several fundamental issues in pronunciation-focused task design that are discussed in detail and on which suggestions for further research are outlined. One…

Incidental vocabulary learning has attracted a great deal of attention in ELT research. However, it is important that teacher and researcher exploitation of vocabulary developments be guided by more than replication of previous research designs. For conclusions based on empirical research to be valid, it is important to be clear about exactly what…

The success of an intervention depends not only upon its theoretical soundness, but also on proper implementation that reflects the guidelines derived from its theoretical conception. Debates surrounding the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) have focused on its theoretical conception and students' learning outcomes, but implementation…

Although temporality is a key characteristic of the core concepts of CSCL--interaction, communication, learning, knowledge building, technology use--and although CSCL researchers have privileged access to process data, the theoretical constructs and methods employed in research practice frequently neglect to make full use of information relating…

Research on collaborative learning, both face-to-face and computer-supported, has thrived in the past 10 years. The studies range from outcome-oriented (individual and group learning) to process-oriented (impact of interaction on learning processes, motivation and organisation of collaboration) to mixed studies. Collaborative learning research is…

Causes of inconclusive results concerning learning hierarchy research are examined. Two suggestions are given for overcoming problems and research flaws: maintain Gagne's original design, modifying shortcomings; and follow more rigorous methods presented by the author. (SM)

Educational researchers and policymakers need to understand the ecological correlation fallacy, since so much bad research (and policy) has been based on it. Aggregate data may or may not yield results that are true for individuals. Only individual-level data can correctly answer questions about the relationship between variables for individuals.…

The domain of research is considerably limited. The majority of societal goals for education are not completely known nor can they be explicitly enough stated for there to be sufficiently rigorous evaluation and research. (Author)

Notes that Markle's (April 1975 issue of this journal) summary of the current state of research regarding concept teaching conveys a major misconception and omits a major conception. (Author/AM)

Presents a progress report on some methodological advances made on certain facets of the problem of the learning of a structure of a subject matter. (PEB)

Many consider the use of adjunct questions (mathemagenics) to be a means by which the instructional value of a text can be increased with relatively little difficulty, and this explains the appeal they have generated over the years. Yet this appeal is seldom tempered by a consideration of the ecological validity of the experimental studies on…

A RESEARCH TRAINING CONFERENCE ON LEARNING WAS HELD FOR 37 PSYCHOLOGISTS AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS. THE 6-WEEK CONFERENCE CENTERED ITS ACTIVITIES ON SUCH TOPICS AS LANGUAGE LEARNING, COMPUTER SIMULATION, INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES DESIGN, ATTITUDE AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT, AND CURRICULUM EVALUATION. LECTURES AND TALKS WERE OFFERED BY…

Outlines the proceedings of the Cognitive-Development Research Seminar at the University of Leeds in September, 1979. Indicates that the area of greatest interest was the differences between student conceptions and scientific norms times alternative frameworks. Outlines other studies that were presented and offers opinions on the contributions of…

One strategy to prevent confusion as new paradigms emerge is to have professionals in the area develop and use a standard model of the phenomenon in question. The development and use of standard models in physics, genetics, archaeology, and cosmology have been very productive. The cognitive revolution in psychology and education has produced a…