Acknowledging a recent increased interest in research about self-directed learning, this report analyzes and discusses two different forms of education: self-directed learning and distance education. Here, self-directed learning is identical with autodidactic learning, a form of education that cannot be included in organized adult education; the…

This paper outlines the components of initial cognitive skill acquisition and analyses features of elaborations in the instructional materials that can facilitate each component. Three basic components of skill learning are identified: (1) learning novel concepts and the functionality of novel concepts and procedures; (2) learning how to execute…

This paper describes further research on a learning procedure for layered networks of deterministic, neuron-like units, described by Rumelhart et al. The units, the way they are connected, the learning procedure, and the extension to iterative networks are presented. In one experiment, a network learns a set of filters, enabling it to discriminate…

The functions of blocking text with horizontal rules and providing headings of different types are discussed. Headings may be encoded or function as access structures, while blocking segments text and provides retrieval cues. These issues were tested in two experiments. College students read a 2000-word passage. In the first experiment, no…

Researchers are concluding that high school and college students do not have a well-balanced repertoire of effective independent learning strategies. Another line of research has focused upon the question of the "process" or the "how" underlying such learning strategies. Three insights from this research are pertinent to developmental educators.…

The technical reports summarized in this paper were prepared as part of a project designed to determine what is known about the teaching of cognitive skills and to formulate questions relating to such teaching for further research. Topics discussed in the 22 reports include the following: (1) teaching thinking; (2) Aristotle's logic; (3) a…

A Center for the Study of Learning has been proposed by the National Institute of Education. This center is to examine a broad spectrum of higher order cognitive skills including the nature, acquisition, and instruction of these skills. The International Consortium for Learning Research and its coordinating institute, The Ohio State University,…

Focusing on how teachers can devise instructional routines to help students learn to learn, this paper discusses mechanisms for training students to devise their own strategies for learning. Because of the dominance of deliberate memory strategies in training research, the paper begins with a brief consideration of such literature, then proceeds…

A study was conducted to measure the extent to which three learning strategies--practicing, monitoring and inferencing--affected student performance in three grade 10 (ages 14-15) and three grade 12 (ages 16-17) classes of French as a second language. (Author/HP)

Keyword mnemonics compares favorably to other devices for learning words in a foreign language. The keyword approach provides both an acoustic link between a native-language word and the second-language word and an image of the keyword interacting with the native-language word or phrase. (LMO)

In this interview, author Art Costa asserts that the teaching of either content or thinking skills in isolation is unproductive. To combine these approaches, he recommends selecting content for its relationship to thought processes. He also observes that administrators who model intelligent behavior thereby create a climate for thinking. (TE)

Evaluates the new paradigm of learning and discusses its principles of context, process, individualization, and community. This method allows for the instruction of the full range of learners in a classroom because the emphasis is on learning how to learn and learning as a process. (NKA)

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)

Demonstrates the interrelationship of the language arts--talking, listening, reading, and writing--as children explore and respond to the meaning in books. Notes that observing and listening in classrooms is a powerful tool for teachers seeking to assess children's learning. Shows how talking about books contributes to children's learning. (HTH)

It has been commonly assumed that language learning strategy training would improve language learning and should be included in foreign language instruction. However, few empirical studies have explored that effectiveness of strategy training in improving learners' target language learning. The effectiveness of strategy training on language…