In the Spring 2017 semester, an instructional designer, a writing center coordinator, and a director of distance library services initiated a pilot project for a seven-campus, eight-satellite center, public university system to cross-train virtual writing tutors in baseline research skills. This case study describes the collaborative pilot…

Skepticism about Piaget's work is the focus of this essay. The author sketches a history of Piaget's influence on American Education, reviews recent Genevan learning research, and turns to a consideration of issues of great educational concern, bringing Piaget's work to bear on them. (CT)

Reviews history and current status of social learning theory (SLT) including present conflict between "cognitive behaviorists" within the movement. Makes suggestions on how to resolve conflict in a way that will further secure the future role of SLT. Offers prescription for adoption of a multifaceted "indirect" approach to…

Describes neocognitive learning theory's major principles and assumptions, cites contemporary research evidence which supports each assumption of this perspective, distinguishes how this model of learning offers significant advance over first-generation cognitive and reciprocal social learning models of deviance, and discusses implications of…

Discusses historic technological barriers to use of the brain in teaching/learning theories, compares medical profession's early move to biological research to educators' long reticence, describes new computer-based brain monitoring technology, and proposes greater involvement of educators in brain research and related technological developments.…

Empirical research is all about trying to model and predict the world. In this article, I discuss how design-based research methods can help do this effectively. In particular, design-based research methods can help with the problem of methodological alignment: ensuring that the research methods we use actually test what we think they are testing.…

University professors teaching pre-service teachers base much of their philosophies on theories. Students often ask "Why do we have theories?" "What is the purpose of theories?" "If we like a theory, do we have to use all of the theory?" The most frequent controversial issue is how to use a particular theory in a practical way. In the quest for…

Interviewed members of semester-long, unstructured small group processes course to identify trainer interventions contributing most to learning. Based on information obtained in interviews, a model was developed which divided trainers' teaching acts into three sequential levels: articulation, legitimation, and connections. (Author/NB)

The Rescorla-Wagner model is one of the cornerstones of learning theory. However, many students in undergraduate courses find the model's concepts difficult to grasp, and the model is often the students' first exposure to computational models in psychology. This article describes an interactive simulation based on an Excel(r) spreadsheet program…

Kolb's experiential learning theory offers the career counselor a meta-model with which to structure career exploration exercises and ensure a thorough investigation of self and the world of work in a manner that provides the client with an optimal amount of learning and personal development. (Author)

Describes a parent communication skills training program which applied Combs' (1982) learning theory emphasizing the importance of personal meaning. Parents in the personal meaning (Integrative group) showed marked improvement compared to those in the Techniques group. (MCF)

Comments on four articles in a special issue of the Journal of the Learning Sciences on methodology in learning sciences. Analyzes the articles within a general model seeking to analyze human activity across multiple time scales. (Author/MM)

Scientists feel that progress in artificial intelligence and the availability of thousands of experimental results make this the right time to build and test theories on how people think and learn, using the computer to model minds. (MSE)

Presents five principles which yield predictions about deterrence of illegal acts by the use of negative sanctions in the form of testable hypotheses, including intensity, temporal proximity, availability of reward, schedule of delivery, and availability of alternative behaviors. Suggests application of any principle of punishment is premature…

Study of processes by which Liberian apprentice tailors learn their craft is the basis for questioning the traditional dichotomy of "formal" and "informal" education. Used as an analogy to demonstrate that anthropologists need not leave the study of learning to the psychologists, but can make valuable contributions by pursuing…