This article discusses a dilemma that engineering educators encounter when attempting to develop pedagogical methods: that of finding efficient and scientifically valid didactic practices. The multitude of methods offered by educational consultants is perplexing. Moreover, the popularity of commercially offered solutions such as learning styles…

Richard Nisbett's "The Geography of Thought" is one of several recent works that have highlighted purported differences in thinking patterns between East Asians and Westerners on the basis of empirical research. This has implications for teaching and for other issues such as cultural integration. Based on a framework consisting of three distinct…

Procrastination can be a crucial factor inhibiting faculty success. Many important tasks, especially publications for promotion or tenure, are typically associated with deadlines that are far in the future. As a result, time management skills can make or break the success of new faculty. This study examines task characteristics of procrastination…

Adopting a person-centered approach, we profiled 5th and 6th grade children's (152 boys and 161 girls) school-related beliefs about perceived task difficulty and agency beliefs in ability and effort. Five clusters were compared across key learning-related dimensions encompassing underlying worldviews (means--ends beliefs, normative difficulty,…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of a range of contingent factors that moderate the approaches to training in manufacturing SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a regression analysis of data from a survey of 198 manufacturing SMEs. Findings: The findings suggest that there will be times when formal training…

It is often questioned as to why fewer women enter science. This study assesses whether a cognitive style characterized by systemizing being at a higher level than empathizing (S greater than E) is better than sex in predicating entry into the physical sciences compared to humanities. 415 students in both types of discipline (203 males, 212…

This study investigated whether providing students with the choice of chat versus threaded discussion boards for online discourse is an effective instructional strategy in terms of student learning and satisfaction. The sample was teacher education students enrolled in face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of one undergraduate foundations course.…

The researchers examined the narratives of Ukrainian teacher candidates about an international conflict, which they perceived as an extreme event that could affect them. Discourse analysis revealed social variation in students' psychological processes used for understanding and explaining the same crisis. Gender differences in students' narratives…

A study presents a perceptual model of thinking called the "Six Thinking Hats" and argumentativeness as a predictor of response to the model. The "Six Thinking Hats" model creates six artificial contexts for thinking, corresponding to the primary thought modes of objective, subjective, critical, and creative thinking, within a…

This paper examines an intentional learning theory by identifying the influential factors that foster individual learning differences. A psychological model is included that presents four unique learning orientations, built on a foundation of causal beliefs. This model of intentional learning assimilates the combined influence of conative,…

This paper reviews and critically evaluates the psychometric properties of Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI). The LSI was developed originally in the 1970s (Kolb, 1976a) and was revised in the 1980s (Kolb, 1985). Although the LSI has been very popular, extensive evidence available in the published literature indicates that both the original…

In this study an interactive conceptual model was utilized in an attempt to examine variables which contribute to, and influence, the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in battered women. This model considers the individual's response to trauma as being the product of the interaction between factors related to the characteristics…

Designed to accompany an all-day "brain" workshop on neurological aspects of learning, the manual contains charts and illustrations depicting the role and function of the right and left hemispheres. Additional material addresses such topics as physiological evolution of the brain, disharmony between left/right brain functions, comparisons between…

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between learning styles and school readiness within two groups of 5- and 6-year-old primary school children. The first group was composed of 15 preschool children who watched an average of 5 hours of the television program "Sesame Street" per week; the second group consisted of 29…

Focusing on individual learning styles as a major component of intentional teaching, this discussion points out advantages for teachers who provide options based on students' learning styles in the classroom. Particular attention is given to the model of Style Differentiated Instruction (SDI) which developed from the research on styles, higher…