Background: Historically, significant advances in scientific understanding have followed advances in measurement and observation. As the resolving power of an instrument increased, so have gains in the understanding of the phenomena being observed. Modern interactive systems are potentially the new "microscopes" when they are…

For the 21st century learner, the foundational principles of information development have grown exponentially. In many fields, the life of knowledge can be measured in months or years, with learning occurring in vastly different ways than in previous decades. Education as a continual process, can last a lifetime, and can be greatly facilitated by…

This article considers the impact of a technique of structured conversation to enhance a student-centred approach to tutorial time. It is suggested that the development of such an approach can provide enhanced learning support in the current challenge of widening diversity in the learner population. Many students in modern tertiary education show…

Studies have shown that depressed people have a significantly higher number of irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions than nondepressed people. The purpose of this study was to identify the causal relationship among depression, irrational beliefs, and cognitive distortions through the use of cross-lagged panel correlational analysis. On two…

Pettigrew's Category Width Scale was administered to 150 first-year psychology students in a study designed to relate a cognitive style dimension, category width, to individual preferences in information processing strategies. (Author/CM)

Successful students use a learning style that involves thinking deeply about what they are studying. Several teaching techniques that can encourage this are discussed. (Author/MLF)

This paper discusses the importance of considering individual learning styles when teaching college students. Today's college students represent a broad spectrum in terms of age, experience, culture, ethnicity, and level of preparedness, and it is a challenge for instructors to meet the needs of all students. There are five strands that affect…

Reviews research on cognitive styles and offers a model for integrating them into an information processing model of cognition. Maintains that the model will promote further research and practice by offering an efficient way of conceptualizing relationships among cognitive styles and intellectual processes. (BSR)

Assesses our limited knowledge of individual learning styles and their relationships to academic achievement. Poses questions for further research. (Author/WD)

Discourse processing involves an interaction of text based processes and prior knowledge. It was shown that college students varied in their relative employment of knowledge-based processes, and that individuals tended to be more "text bound" when they were more "stimulus bound" according to an embedded figures test.…

Uses the Gregorc Style Delineator (1982) as the basis for translating learning style theory into the following developmental education teaching practices: teacher-led lesson presentations, student group discussions and projects, independent assignments, and testing situations. Notes that most of the ideas presented should also apply to other adult…

College student pairs learned a complex card game using a scripted set of turns and written explanations, played the game, rated perceptions of and reactions to the learning session and their partner, and completed the Attitudes Toward Thinking and Learning Scale. Significant differences in perceptions of partners and sessions related to…

This study attempted to extend prior research on everyday problem solving by analyzing the effects of goal clarity and the presence or absence of a partner on performance in a number of problems. Subjects were 35 undergraduates who were screened, matched, and tested as singles or dyads during which time they thought aloud. Problems included mazes,…

Paired associate memory was tested with imagery and repetition instructions, with and without background music. Subjects were 64 students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Music was found to have no effect with imagery instructions, but significantly improved performance with the repetition instructions. Music had different effects on…

In a study designed to relate research on cognitive style to study technique effectiveness, a group of 129 college freshmen was given a test to assess the cognitive style of each. The 93 students who scored in the upper l/3 and in the lower l/3 of the distribution were classified as field independent and field dependent. These 93 students were…