Discusses the influences of cognitive psychology on instructional design. Metacognition, schemata, and stages of skill acquisition are described; tasks common to instructional design models are explained; a comparison of cognitive psychology and instructional design approaches to those tasks is presented; and implications for computer-based…

Addresses two empirical issues: (1) what are the observed characteristics of student question-asking? and (2) under what conditions do students exhibit questioning behavior? Reports the results of a study of question-asking in 27 classrooms and examines the conditions of student questioning which are related to student training, curriculum…

Wait time is the duration of pauses separating utterances during a verbal exchange. Paper reviews studies that involve wait time in a range of subject areas and grade levels. Wait time appears to foster higher cognitive level learning by giving teachers and students more time to think. (RB)

Poses the theory that teaching is telling a story about the acquisition of knowledge. Explores the approaches of four composition textbooks using the pattern of heroic adventure (separation, initiation, and return) as a basis for comparison. Concludes that the implied educational values in texts should be considered conscientiously by teachers.…

A simulation model of episodic memory, MINERVA Z, is applied to the learning of concepts, as represented by the schema-abstraction task. The model successfully predicts basic findings from the scheme-abstraction literature, including some that have been cited as evidence against exemplary theories of concepts. (Author/LMO)

Studies with Nootropic psychoactive drugs (such as Piracetam) suggest that Piracetam lacks significant side effects; promotes memory and learning; and improves the reading ability of dyslexics, possibly by directly affecting the left-brain hemisphere. Results are contrasted with studies showing the lack of effectiveness of intensive teaching.…

Presents a model of the role of instructional feedback in learning a motor skill and identifies six levels of motor skill output, each of which has a characteristic type of feedback. The usefulness of several feedback techniques reported in the literature is discussed. (Author/LRW)

The subtleties of instruction include interpretation, interaction, and longitudinality. Instructional leaders can help teachers make decisions about how to verbally mediate students' understanding during lessons. Includes references. (MD)

Looks at the nature of introspective accounts and the usefulness of such accounts in studies of the composing process. Concludes that retrospective journal accounts are a rich source of information because they permit consideration of the complex context in which composing occurs. (FL)

Discusses the benefits and disadvantages of television as a learning medium for adults. Concludes that television's positive benefits outweigh the negative effects, provided that the medium is seen as just one part of a larger whole. (CH)

The National Association of Secondary School Principals formed a national task force on learning styles, defining them as the composite of cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that indicate how a learner approaches learning. The goal was to develop a workable diagnostic instrument leading to personalized education. (MT)

Describes research on the psychological types of word/information processing students that seems to relate to the learning process and job satisfaction. Examines characteristics of the psychological or personality types and describes how the research results have been used in the courses and in planning future research. (CT)

Anthropologists may be on the verge of shedding new light on the what, who, when, where, and why children learn in the formal classroom. Eleven propositions extracted from anthropological literature to help evaluate learning and teaching are discussed. (RM)

In this study on the interactive effects of advance organizers and reasoning skills, 112 undergraduates read a literature text preceded by either a comparative advance organizer or a placebo introduction. Results suggest that instructional organizers produce neither serious loss nor substantial benefits for many purposes of communication. (BS)

Results from a study of 485 young children provided evidence that the development of counting skills is an evolving process in which parts of a relatively simple rule are replaced by features that enable the child to perform an increasingly broad range of counting tasks. (Author/BW)