Comprehension of science topics occurs when learners meaningfully generate relationships and conceptions about what they read. In this generation process, learners' cognitive and metacognitive regulation is one of the most critical factors influencing learning. However, learners are not always successful in regulating their own learning,…

Examines elaboration theory of instruction (ETI), a theory that prescribes different patterns of sequencing for different kinds of learning. Presents results of surveying undergraduate students who have undergone ETI sequencing. Results identify the strengths and weaknesses of the instruction and ways of improving it. Student debriefing questions…

To examine how four methods of symbolizing data affect learning from thematic maps of familiar regions, two experiments were conducted with college students. In both experiments, map-related text information was recalled more than map-unrelated text information. Choropleth maps and proportional symbol maps were associated with higher reported use…

Explains a generative theory of textbook design and describes three experiments that compared college students' solutions on transfer problems after reading science texts with illustrations adjacent to corresponding text and including annotations, and illustrations separated from text without annotations. (LRW)

This study compared the effects of intrinsic relevance with embedded, extrinsic relevance-enhancing strategies based on the ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model of instruction on perceived motivation and the learning outcomes of identification, terminology, comprehension, and drawing. Both intrinsic and extrinsic…

Describes a study of undergraduates that investigated the differential effects of strategy orientation (memory strategy, organization strategy, application strategy, and read-and-study control) orthogonally crossed with learner activity (guided versus active) and outcomes. Transfer-appropriate processing theory, encoding specificity, and…

Discusses problem solving, problem-based learning, and collaborative learning, and describes a university study that investigated the effects of individual Web-based learning versus computer-mediated collaborative Web-based learning and ability grouping on learner performance in solving ill-defined problems. Considers time on task, participant…

Describes the development and use of electronic classrooms at the University of Maryland College Park. Highlights include active individual learning; small group collaborative learning; class collaborative learning; classroom infrastructure; audio-visual support; courseware; empirical assessments; results of faculty surveys; and student feedback.…

Describes a study of preservice teacher education students that investigated the process used by learners to seek, locate, and integrate information resources from the World Wide Web for use in a project-based environment. Discusses hypermedia systems; open-ended learning environments; the role of metacognitive, domain, and system knowledge; and…