This study examined the idiosyncratic development of second language (L2) learners in a listening strategies course. The progress of four Taiwanese EFL learners was examined longitudinally through a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques as the learners participated in a course combining direct instruction of strategies with their…

The outstandingly able learner has been conceptualised, in terms of test and examination performance, as the learner showing superior academic performance which is markedly better than that of peers and in ways regarded as of value by wider society. In Kuwait, such superior examination performance leads to a classification regarded as being…

Discourse processing involves an interaction of text based processes and prior knowledge. It was shown that college students varied in their relative employment of knowledge-based processes, and that individuals tended to be more "text bound" when they were more "stimulus bound" according to an embedded figures test.…

In two experiments, college student pairs who were given a systematic strategy for learning cooperatively from a text were compared with pairs who created their own strategies and with individuals who used the systematic or their own strategy. The cooperative learning strategy facilitated both initial learning and transfer. (Author/GDC)

Spatial context can be expected to play an important role in computer-based instruction and distance education using PC terminals because these types of computer-mediated instruction often occur in a restricted environment such as one's home or office. These settings, while convenient, are often isolated and lack diverse spatial cues. Fundamental…

Describes study of college students that was conducted to determine whether increasing the amount of data in different graphic formats affects the interpretation of quantitative information. Immediate and delayed recall are examined, and correlations between graphic format and field dependence and independence are discussed. (12 references) (LRW)

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of embedded headings, with and without instructions on their usage, as processing aids for text material. It was expected that the Instructions/Headings group would outperform both the Headings Only and Control (no instructions or headings) groups, and that the performance of the Headings Only group…

Previous research conducted from a schema theory perspective has neglected those instances where the reader is confronted with unfamiliar text. This issue is addressed, and initial results on training students to acquire and use form schema in processing relatively unfamiliar descriptive prose are presented. Thirty-two college students were…

This study was designed to investigate the effects of the presence or absence of metacognitive skill tools available in hyperspace environments on field independent and field dependent learners. Learners were engaged in problem solving in an information-rich hyperspace based on a lesson on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Forty undergraduates were…

Two experiments examined the effects of embedded and intact (outline) headings on the processing of complex text material by college students. Results indicated that embedded headings reliably improved delayed test performance. It was further found that instructions in the use of headings as processing aids facilitated test performance. (Author/PN)

Field-independent and dependent students read or took notes on a logically organized or scrambed article. Field-independent students scored better than field-dependent students on items of high structural importance to the meaning of the passage. Cognitive style effects on material of low structural importance were not significant. (Author/RD)

Describes a study of undergraduates that determined the implications of content organization and cognitive style with regard to the design of hypertext. Highlights include effects of linking structure type and field-dependence and -independence on recall of verbal information, attitudes toward instructional materials, and use of the Group Embedded…

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)