Recent findings [Turcotte, Gagnon, & Poirier, 2005. The effect of old age on the learning of supra-span sequences. "Psychology and Aging," 20, 251-260.] indicate that incidental learning of visuo-spatial supra-span sequences through immediate serial recall declines with old age (Hebb's paradigm). In this study, we examined whether…

This preliminary study employed mixed methodologies to explore students' use of mobile computing devices and its effects on their motivation to learn, engagement in learning activities, and support for learning processes. Data collected from students in four elementary and two seventh grade science classes in Northeast Ohio included usage logs,…

This study assessed, and identified factors in participants' learning ecologies that mediated, the effectiveness of an explicit reflective instructional approach that satisfied conditions for learning as conceptual change on preservice elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). Participants were 28 undergraduate students enrolled in an…

In this study we investigate how prior knowledge influences knowledge development during collaborative discovery learning. Fifteen dyads of students (pre-university education, 15-16 years old) worked on a discovery learning task in the physics field of kinematics. The (face-to-face) communication between students was recorded and the interaction…

Student self-beliefs can impact their attention and learning processes and have been considered in instructional design theories and models. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-beliefs and mathematics achievement of adolescent students in Japan. Students included in these analyses were from the Third…

Contextual studies of learning experiences as recalled by working, adult learners entering post-graduate studies in higher education are not widely reported in higher education research. The purpose of this study was to explore the recalled learning experiences of adult students with work experience, but no prior completed academic qualifications,…

This article presents an explorative study, which is part of a comprehensive project to examine the impact of epistemological beliefs on metacognitive calibration during learning processes within a complex hypermedia information system. More specifically, this study investigates: 1) if learners differentiate between tasks of different complexity,…

This chapter highlights some specific differences encountered between K-12 and higher education settings as a way to provide context for several research studies under way in engineering education. Specifically, this chapter highlights differences in three aspects of an academic learning environment: faculty, students, and subject matter.

Much of the literature on experiential education tends to focus on adventure-based education, which is of limited use to school teachers. This article examines the dichotomy of traditional and experiential education as a launching point to discuss the roles of trust and risk in educational processes. We examine perspectives of student, educator,…

How do children and adults learn to use computers? What developmental processes are involved in learning to use computers? This chapter reviews current understanding of these issues and presents empirical studies demonstrating how to advance that understanding. (Contains 2 figures.)

For three biology professors, visualizing molecular processes is central to thinking in their discipline. This chapter reports their attempts at getting students to make this same cognitive move and the results of their assessments. (Contains 2 figures.)

This study estimated separately the unique effects of three dimensions of good practice and the global effects of a composite measure of good practices on the cognitive development, orientations to learning, and educational aspirations of students during their first year of college. Analyses of longitudinal data from a representative sample of…

A model of developmentally appropriate practice in helping teachers grow is described. The model derives from a consideration of the psychological processes by which adults learn, and our desire to teach adults by the same methods we hope they will use in teaching children. The model includes a sequence of six kinds of interactions that the…

This study is an exploration of the "sense of community" in a college classroom. The construct was successfully developed by incorporating six variables borrowed from neighborhood community research. Sense of community scores significantly predicted students' classroom attitudes, perception of learning, and actual performance on course exams.

In this article, the authors describe a graduate course based on a cooperative learning strategy involving structured group interaction. The authors team-taught a semester-long course in which student groups worked on a consulting project requiring interaction between three distinct teams--the student group, a faculty team, and a team of field…