Learner-centered principles espoused by the American Psychological Association (APA) built on research of the last three decades suggest that learning does not simply entail coordinated cognitive processes. These 12 principles portray factors associated with learning as essential parts of the portrayal of learners as active creators of their own…

The entry of more "non-traditional" students into graduate social psychology programs brings varied life experiences into the field. Women in particular bring different experiences than those conventionally assumed by the academy. Research shows that many women who have succeeded in higher education did so by adopting…

In language arts classes a "composition" generally refers to a written text. Semiotic theory based on C. S. Peirce's work suggests that writing is only one of many forms of composition available for mediating thought and activity. According to J. V. Wertsch (1991), writing should be one tool in a tool kit of mediational means available…

The psychometric properties of objective tests administered in two testing conditions were compared, using an experimental take-home testing condition and a traditional in-class testing condition. Subjects were 290 college students in a basic educational psychology course who took a test developed and tested the previous semester. Two equivalent…

In five experiments with over 2,500 subjects, we examined the hypothesis that cognitive processing variables measuring breadth of declarative knowledge and information processing speed were related to learning outcomes on a paired-associates task. Experiments 1 and 2 compared recall with recognition tests, Experiment 3 assessed the effect of…

Context effects in test taking were explored, paying attention to the psychological processes that occur during test taking, and modeling context effects for each individual at the item block level. A sample of 279 high school students (140 females and 139 males) was chosen to yield adequate power for detecting interactions. Reading test forms…

This study examined whether preservice teachers can infer the major concepts that a subject uses in his or her thinking on complex problems if the subject thinks out loud. Twenty-six students in a teacher certification program, 17 college graduates with 5 years of full-time work experience, and 16 college graduates with 10 years of full-time work…

This study investigated whether "avoidance" is an appropriate term to describe the linguistic behavior in which the learner with a particular first-language (L1) background tries to underproduce or underrepresent a particular second-language (L2) structure. The first section seeks to establish the general psycholinguistic principle that…

A group of three studies investigated sources of learning difficulty in 18 current or former foreign graduate students with limited English skills whose native language was Chinese, and compared the findings with those for a similar group of 14 native English-speaking graduate students. Students were asked seven questions about their first year of…

This paper discusses the process through which a powerful multidimensional measure of affect and cognition in relation to adult learning of computing skills was derived from its early theoretical stages to its validation using structural equation modeling. The discussion emphasizes the importance of ensuring a strong substantive base from which to…

This study investigated children's ability to interpret a natural social situation, depicted in a narrative story, and to use their understanding of that situation to generate and apply a mental model of debts and assets in solving problems including negative quantities. Fifty-one American students from a parochial school in a predominantly middle…

As part of a larger study regarding an ideal curriculum in five subject matter domains for the elementary school, the views of seven experts in mathematics education were summarized and contrasted. Four experts were nationally and internationally known professors and researchers, and three were elementary school teachers selected by researchers…

This book explores how learning is the lifetime quest to understand personal identity, purpose, and meaning while conforming and adapting to the perceived and real confines of a paradoxical society. It examines the complex social experience of learning, revealing how culture, gender, race, and other societal factors shape and mold an individual's…

This study looks at the higher education learning needs of population subgroups by reviewing research concerning the classroom experiences of minority group students and women. The importance of addressing these questions is raised by the current and expected growth in ethnic minorities in the United States. Findings indicate that Black students…

Sixty-three fifth-grade children completed daily activity diaries indicating how they spent their non-school time for 15 days. From these diaries, estimates of the minutes per day that were spent in various activities were derived. The estimate of book-reading time from the activity diary correlated with new measures of individual differences in…