Presents theoretical bases for making language (and its study) the essential agent in the generation of thought and meaning. Suggests strategies to engage students (and instructors) in the creation of meaning and the negotiation of knowledge. Argues that such epistemological uses of language can empower developmental students to become early and…

Examines and defines concept maps, describes how concept maps are constructed, and explains why concept mapping is a workable tool for meaningful learning and understanding. Compares concept maps with objective and essay exams and offers evaluation/scoring suggestions. (RS)

Measures the effects of training students to make annotations vs. training them in journal writing, as preparation for objective and essay tests on novels. Finds annotations more effective for objective test items but not for essays. Finds that writing inferential annotations appeared to be correlated with answering inferential questions…

Investigates the cognitive functions of college students' use of underlining as a learning strategy. Finds that underlining does not serve an encoding or review function and may be counterproductive for inferential recall. (PRA)

Focuses on a content analysis of learning logs kept by preservice teachers in an educational psychology course at an open admission university. Finds differences among strategy use of successful, unsuccessful, and improving students. Develops profiles of each category. Discusses implications for strategy instruction. (RS)

Provides a rationale for the use of graphic organizers (GOs), traces their history and development, reviews 16 studies that have used GOs as text adjuncts, and discusses limitations that have made GO research nonsystematic. Suggests future research should examine and answer how GOs can be constructed for classroom use. (PA)

Assesses the influence of two self-regulated learning strategies (organizing/transforming and task-information seeking) and two other variables (reading ability and self-efficacy for writing) on undergraduate students' compare/contrast essays. Finds that essay quality was correlated with each of the variables, but only reading ability and…

Compares the reliability and validity of the 10 subtests of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) obtained from 99 developmental college students with norming values obtained in an earlier study. Indicates that 9 out of 10 subtest reliability coefficients approached but did not equal the earlier study. (HB)

Discusses research concerning the four reciprocal teaching (RT) strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing as they relate to fifth-grade teachers who had exposure to constructivist thinking conducted as part of the normal school day. Finds that when teachers consistently and clearly modeled all four RT strategies, students…

Describes criteria used for selecting learning/study skills textbooks for college freshmen in a required developmental reading course. Contains a checklist used to analyze 47 major textbooks. (FL)

Investigates the utility and predictive validity of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) as a means of measuring college students' cognitive and affective growth following a study strategies course. Finds cognitive and affective growth in both regularly admitted and developmental studies students. Finds that LASSI cannot yet be used…

Examines three strategies designed to help middle school students use text structures to comprehend expository text: (1) hierarchical summaries, (2) conceptual maps, and (3) thematic organizers. Summarizes advantages and disadvantages of each strategy and recommends that teachers consider the outcomes they want and select the most appropriate…