This study investigated whether giving students generic advance instructions about how to learn classification tasks was effective in facilitating learning of a specific classification task. Results showed that the instruction group and adjunct-questions group did equally well on classifying new and old instances of U.S. Navy call signs.…

Describes a study that used a computer as a research tool to investigate the role of questioning in the way information is used and interpreted. The effects of self-generated questions, external higher order questions, and external lower order questions on thinking processes are examined. (35 references) (LRW)

This experiment examined the recall and recognition performance of 53 field-independent and 55 field-dependent learners who were with or without structure at the time of acquisition and/or at the time of recall. Patterns of performance were consistent with processing styles characteristic of field dependence-independence. (Author/LMO)

The study examined the effects of training in question generation on comprehension question performance, on quality and form of generated questions, and on accuracy of predicted comprehension. Sixth-grade students trained in question generation outperformed four comparison groups on several comprehension and metacomprehension measures. (Author/LMO)

Demonstrated is a covariance principle that causes the observer to assume that if one aspect of a two-dimensional figure (its perimeter or its area) is conserved, the other aspect must also be conserved (pseudo-conservation). Mentally retarded individuals, assuming no such fixed relationship, correctly judged the changed state of the nonconserved…

The instructional components of mediation, a teaching technique used in dynamic assessment, were evaluated with 100 four-year-old children attending daycare or preschools in London, Ontario. The effects of familiarization with task materials, task-specific rule teaching, and elaborated feedback were assessed using a pretest-posttest design.…

Investigates the effect of a directed-inquiry approach to learning science process skills and scientific problem solving in the high school biology laboratory. Reports no main effect of the approach but an interaction effect of the approach and cognitive development. (Author/YP)

The research reported in this paper explores the syntactical and semantic link between computer programming statements and logical principles, and addresses the effects of learning a programming language on logical reasoning ability. Fifth grade students in a public school in Syracuse, New York, were randomly selected as subjects, and then…

Pairs of undergraduate students were instructed to engage in metacognitive activities, elaborative activities, or neither while listening to prose passages. Results of a recall test suggested that metacognitive activity facilitated cooperative learning, while elaborative activity transferred to a later individual learning activity. (Author/GDC)

Discussion of regulation of learning, mind orientation, and distraction focuses on two studies of 12- to 14-year-old students with weak concentration abilities from a special education secondary school who were asked to solve arithmetic word problems. These studies explored individual differences in self-regulation processes, and the effect of…

The distance education program offered by the University of Oklahoma was studied to determine the impact of telecommunications media upon learning outcomes. Comparison of the attitudes and achievement of students enrolled in the telecommunications course and a control group showed no differences in learning between the groups at any level. (18…

An experimental study compared the instructional effectiveness of Logo programming, commercially available software designed to aid composition and problem solving, and traditional teaching methods for low socioeconomic status first-grade students. Both software environments enhanced problem solving performance for a novel task, but Logo was most…

Describes a study that was conducted to analyze the developmental effects of two instructional strategies--adjunct questions and visualization--in facilitating student achievement among Korean high school and adult learners. Treatments for the experimental and control groups are described, criterion measures are explained, and results are…