Exploring material from the ERIC database and other sources, the report (1) annotates introductory articles regarding the assessment, categorization, and implications of learning styles, showing how they relate to communication literature research; (2) describes H. Witkin's extensive cognitive style research; and (3) details L. Curry's review of…

The theoretical landscape in which scholars of comparative education work has become increasingly diverse and fragmented in recent years. This paper contends that cognitive maps can enable scholars to see better this shifting landscape. Mapping also is offered as a rationale by which social and intellectual worlds may be uttered and constructed in…

Provides an overview of the nature, purpose, and instructional research related to semantic mapping. Offers a vivid description of how semantic mapping was used in a secondary social studies classroom, including how the teacher and students viewed the method. Suggests ideas and resources for interested teachers. (MJP)

Reviews the current literature concerning prior knowledge in an attempt to clarify problems with the terminology. Identifies the three main problems: lack of definition or vagueness, nominal versus real definitions, and different names/same constructs or same name/different constructs. Includes a conceptual map of prior knowledge terminology. (MJP)

Explores the usefulness of an alternative writing approach using a spatial-verbal technique called node-link mapping. In this process the student diagrams nodes, which contain key ideas and propositions, and links, which convey relations such as, leads to, part of, and example. Includes diagrams and examples. (MJP)