In Morocco, debates over English language instruction have marginalized poetry as a distinct literary genre. The shortage of poetry events arguably makes poetry teaching both daunting and intimidating. Besides fostering trust, memorization, and empathy, helping students develop a penchant for English language, as well as humanity, poetry, and…

This anthropological study of a higher education British Madrasah was undertaken to increase our awareness of the spectrum of sensory experiences that shape Islamic pedagogy. We started our anthropological study from an Islamic premise of the inseparable nature of knowledge and the sacred. Pedagogy is defined as not a matter of simple methods and…

This study examined the utility of intact and embedded headings as processing aids with nonnarrative text. College students provided with text containing intact and embedded headings outperformed students whose text did not contain these processing aids, especially at delayed testing. Implications of these results and future research issues are…

Nursing students (n=29) were tested at entry and exit in a program using inquiry-based learning, an adaptation of problem-based learning. Students continued to use memorization despite its surface learning quality. A combination of memorization, conceptualization, and reflection may be best for understanding as well as retention. (SK)

Reports the results of a study of the effects of different types of recall expectation on the accuracy of making structural importance ratings of text ideas and on the recall of idea units by importance levels. (AEA)

Reading is fundamental to learning. Vital to learning is memory, which is the mental faculty used to retrieve what was read and understood. The human brain is about the size of a grapefruit and weighs about as much as a head of cabbage. The cerebral cortex is a kind of problem-solving and memorizing device. The hippocampus plays a critically…

Types of comparisons for evaluation of mnemonics were identified based on equating exposure to the to-be-learned associations or on total study time. Experiments on the cueword method illustrated how highly analytical experiments on mnemonics might be conducted and how choice of comparisons in research could affect mnemonic evaluation. (Author/DWH)

Places the current educational reform movement in a historical context. Maintains that students today are no more ignorant of history than were previous generations. Distinguishes between memory, remembering, and meaning and suggests the application of these categories to the improvement of history instruction. Describes sample exercise. (RW)

The organizational factors in memory relevant to learning medical diagnosis terms are discussed in this paper. Two hypotheses are tested: that the type of list organization will affect total recall; and that the type of curriculum and year in school will affect the organization of recall. Ninety-six second and third year medical students from two…

In four experiments to replicate and extend the findings of Shuell and Keppel (EJ 016 150), "fast" and "slow" learners were brought to a similar learning criterion, with the result that their forgetting curves were parallel. The experiments involved American and Nigerian students in learning word lists and poems. (Author/CM)

A study involving 32 undergraduate students was conducted to identify mechanisms by which instructional objectives affect learning. Protocols for thinking out loud were examined for evidence of rehearsal activity. Results suggest that instructional objectives enhanced real-time rehearsal activity, recall, and reading time. (TJH)

This paper describes the mental model children have of their own learning, derived from their behaviors when learning a song. The basic assumption of the study is that behavior is an outward expression of a psychological entity. The song chosen for the study was a complex, unfamiliar Zulu song. Thirty-six children in three age groups participated…

This paper outlines several "tricks" that aid students in improving their memories. The distinctions between operational and figural thought processes are noted. Operational memory is described as something that allows adults to make generalizations about numbers and the rules by which they may be combined, thus leading to easier memorization.…

These lessons are designed to familiarize students with political and legal terminology through memorization and testing. Students are required to take notes on the terms and definitions given in class on 3 by 5 cards to file alphabetically at home. They are also instructed to keep a notebook of the terms to bring to class and memorize. After one…

This paper describes an experimental course in which the author taught students to improve their learning skills. It is a first step toward constructing a systematic body of knowledge about learning strategies. The course covered four topics, chosen because they were complex enough to require several weeks to make progress, but simple enough that…