This paper calls into question the idea that we can simply think about higher education as a research field and explores different meanings of the term field. It asks whether there are related fields: research into higher education, academic development and disciplinary teaching research, rather than one. The approach of the paper is conceptual,…

This paper contributes to understanding why curriculum design in a discipline with a horizontal knowledge structure is difficult, time-consuming and contested. A previous paper on the same case study in one sociology department reported that students who had completed the general sociology major found it lacking in coherence. To illustrate the…

Seven experiments involving over 700 undergraduate students investigated whether the naturalness of abstract category structures varies with content domain. Results indicate that the structure of knowledge varies with domain and that it would be difficult to formulate general constraints on categorization in terms of abstract structural…

This study was designed to determine whether concepts judged by participants as either prototypically social, non-social, animate, or inanimate would be cognitively structured in a manner consistent with E. Rosch's hierarchical model. During the first experiment, 168 undergraduates generated words to be placed in one of the prototypical categories…

The use of structural equation modeling is discussed in testing a range of theories of learning and cognition involving the concept of a hierarchy of variables of increasing complexity. To illustrate this approach, one method is applied to Bloom's taxonomy to test the theoretical assumption of hierarchical organization. (Author/MSE)

Three experiments investigated the ability of 79 college students to solve similar algebra word problems. Data indicate that students are able to perceive and use similarities in such problems at the level of a conceptual structure. A training session to explain relevant structural principles was effective in improving performance. (SLD)

The four sections of this paper provide an analysis of the structure of human memory. The first section, intended to provide a clear example of personal memory, examines a hypothetical episode in the life of an undergraduate student, and shows how one episode can give rise to three different forms of memory: personal, semantic, and rote…

Individual differences and the role of advance organizers in reading comprehension were examined. Subjects read short passages sometimes preceded by a given type of advance organizer. Good readers showed greater recall of detail given either type of advance organizer; poor readers displayed enhanced recall of detail only for a particular type of…

Four experiments with college undergraduates examine interactions between linearly separable and nonlinearly separable abstract category structures, different knowledge types, and instructions on classification learning tasks. Implications for independent cue models and interactive cue models are discussed. (LMO)

Presents a taxonomy and a rationale for measuring three domains of online search competence--affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor. Implications for bibliographic instruction are explored, including the desirability of teaching users affective skills that will permit them to acquire the complex cognitive skills required to conduct more…

Identifies cognitive strategies used during the categorization of qualitative data and investigates how various factors may be related to the testimonial validity of the categories. Essay writers ranked sets of categories in terms of overall quality and rated them while thinking aloud. Think-aloud protocols for the "best" and…

The nature of cluster analysis and dendograms, subjects, tasks, and results of this study are described. Categories for problems were based on assumptions about the methods used by novice and expert problem solvers in a physics context. (CW)

Structure of mathematical concept of multiplication and its integration into conceptual system, with respect to formal and informal aspects of understanding for 10 university students, are investigated through linear scale assessment of examples for prototypical effects and through follow-up interview which included direct explanations of…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…