This paper describes the third phase of a multi-year study that has been assessing professional knowledge and perceptions of beginning teacher education students. This phase of the study reports on responses to a questionnaire designed to compare student knowledge across cohorts and institutions. The data reported here are from a total of 291…

The impact that financial education had on the financial behaviors of (a) the agency staff who were trained to deliver the program and (b) the low-income individuals who participated in the program was investigated. Specifically, the researchers examined the relationship between total number of financial education lessons completed, prior…

Examined how high school students, in individual and peer conditions, process scientific information that contradicts what they believe, and assessed the contribution of this activity to conceptual change. Results indicated two processing approaches: (1) direct assimilation; and (2) knowledge building, suggesting that knowledge building as a…

Reports on a study that examined the nature of vocal jazz improvisation and the factors that influence achievement in improvisation. Participating subjects performed two jazz improvisation tasks that were measured for tonal, rhythmic, and expressive items. Correlating independent variables included jazz theory knowledge, jazz experience, and…

State and national standards continue to prod teacher education programs towards preparing teacher candidates who are capable of integrating computer technologies into their teaching methodologies. However, providing experiences and resources for this type of teacher training necessarily relies on students possessing basics skills in computer use…

The aims of this study were considered under three headings. The first was to elicit misconceptions that students had about the terms "solute", "solvent" and "solution." The second was to understand how students' prior learning affected their misconceptions. The third was to determine if students were able to make a…

This paper reports on the results of a study investigating attitude toward computing for a large group (n=509) of students undertaking an introductory information systems course in an Australian university. Students were surveyed using a two-part questionnaire. The first section dealt with gender, previous computing experience, and level of…

This paper reports on the results of a preliminary investigation of the extent to which first-year students entering a university during the summer, who enroll in the introductory information systems course in a college of business, meet the requirements for the course upon entrance. A second objective is to recommend a course of action to be…

This study examined the instructional effectiveness with which different job aid types facilitated learner achievement of different types of learning objectives and identified the degree to which low and high prior knowledge individuals profit from different job aid types. The instructional content used in the study was an instructional module on…

This handbook gives the adult student information to complete portfolios that are designed to help adult students earn college credits for outside experience. Portfolio assessment is a flexible and efficient way to earn college credit. Nearly any area of learning can be converted into credits as long as it is taught at a regionally accredited…

Maps or graphical browsers of structural knowledge allow the user of a hypertext system to navigate from node to node through the structure as they portray the links between concepts spatially. This study examined the results of using two different graphical browsers that provide different amounts of information about the structure of the…

The assumption that learners are the best judges of learning needs in computer-assisted instruction was tested by assigning 55 eleventh graders to learner-control or program-control conditions. Results indicate that efficiency of the learner-control strategy cannot be taken for granted and emphasize the importance of prior knowledge. (SLD)

We have investigated the conceptual understandings of seventy-eight 16-year-old Australian high school students' and their knowledge about several issues related to nuclear energy. As a result of their study of the physics topic Nuclear Technology, the students learned more about applications of nuclear technology, had better though still…

A 4-year case study examined how two second-career teachers' prior experiences, beliefs about knowledge, and schooling contexts influenced their ability to implement culturally relevant, constructivist classroom curricula. Interviews and observations highlighted important relationships between teachers' personal belief systems for teaching and…

Knowing and learning about students' lives are an essential part of teaching reading to adults. Student journals provide a way for teachers to know and respond to students' personal histories. Adult learners must value themselves and the knowledge they already possess in adult basic education and other realms. (SLD)