Research on problem solving typically does not address tasks that involve following detailed and/or illustrated step-by-step instructions. Such tasks are not seen as cognitively challenging problems to be solved. In this paper, we challenge this assumption by analyzing verbal protocols collected during an Origami folding task. Participants…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) are increasingly expected to master content in the general education curriculum, making the need for effective instructional supports more important than ever before. Science is a part of the curriculum that can be particularly challenging to students with LD because of the diverse demands it places on…

Author observed four kindergarten classes where teachers were able to speak Spanish; Spanish-speaking children, by various methods, learned skills and content at the same rate as English-speaking children did. (SP)

Article describes two processes in free recall: a retrieval process and a recognition process. Experiments confirmed the predicted dissociation of recognition and retrieval. (Author/ML)

The effects of immediate and delayed feedback on perseverance and learning were investigated with a 3 x 3 factorial design. It was hypothesized that delayed feedback would reduce perseverance while immediate feedback would increase it. Subjects were 72 male college students, paid for participation. They read prose sentences and completed cloze…

In two experiments, undergraduates who completed the last words of sentences they read learned more than subjects who simply read whole sentences. This facilitation was observed even with a list of sentences that were almost always completed with the wrong words. (Author/GDC)

Note taking and verbalization are considered as instrumental student activities which influence the relationship between the learning task and the learning outcomes. Alternative theoretical explanations for the effects of note taking and verbalization are discussed, and a structure for future research on these topics is provided. (Author)

A study was conducted to determine whether children think about the verbal messages embedded in songs, or merely sing the words without thinking about them. A total of 48 preschool girls and boys viewed a televised vignette of the song "Frere Jacques" under varying conditions of language comprehensibility, rehearsal, and repetition. The visual…

A learning circle is an informal, co-operative way of learning that is based on natural patterns of human interaction. Learning circles use learning materials to catalyze discussion. This book was designed under the assumption that these materials will most often be television programs with supporting print material. The first section, "What…

Intended for the regular class teacher, the booklet contains 72 sample lesson activities for use with mainstreamed learning disabled students. Activities are organized around the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities and cover the following areas: auditory reception, visual reception, auditory association, visual association, verbal…

In order to establish an initial data source for elementary level home-based intervention programs, 18 dyads of second-graders and their parents were divided into three mutually exclusive achievement groups and observed while completing an instructional tool introduced into the home by the childs' school. Parent/child interactions were stimulated…

Undergraduate students using an imagery mnemonic mediating technique involving "keywords" to learn definitions of thirty unfamiliar words performed better on a 1-week delayed comprehension test, on at least half of the definitions, than those who read and copied definitions. Mnemonic mediating strategies worked better than nonmediating strategies…

A major goal of the elementary and secondary schools is to help each person become an efficient and autonomous learner. Outlined in this report are skills abstracted from the literature on such topics as verbal learning, problem solving, study habits, and behavior modification. The learner-oriented skills are presented so that they may be…

The instructional process has four major components: stimulation, orientation, transformation, and instrumental activity. Concerning stimulation, the instructor should highlight either the novelty or the complexity of the learning materials. Varying such factors as teaching style and mode of presentation, duration of instruction, and the learner's…