Examines the online communications behavior of students with high degrees of writing apprehension as they communicated with both familiar and unknown audiences via Internet newsgroups. Finds that low-apprehensive writers tend to exhibit similar communication strategies in both types of newsgroups, but high-apprehensive writers contributed more and…

Focuses on the role of learning style and individual differences in English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language (ESL/EFL) learning. Discusses ways to help ESL/EFL educators and program designers gain a better understanding of the human differences in learning and to assist them in selecting classroom teaching strategies when designing curricula.…

High school agriculture students were taught using either a problem-solving (n=60) or subject-matter (n=52) approach. There were no differences in short- or long-term retention using either method across different learning styles. A moderate correlation was found between field independence and higher normal curve equivalent scores. (SK)

Of 74 students taking web-based agriculture courses, two-thirds were identified as field independent. There were no achievement differences between field-dependent and field-independent students. Students enjoyed the convenience and pacing and were motivated by competition and high expectations. Motivation was the only significant factor…

Purpose ? Self-directed work teams are seen as an important mechanism for dealing with today's complex and rapidly changing business environment. Team learning is an attempt to prepare students to real-world experiences. But, not all teamwork is effective. This paper aims to examine the influence of learning style preferences on team learning…

This study investigated whether students' approaches to learning were influenced by the design of university courses. Pre- and post-evaluations of the approaches to learning of the same group of students concurrently enrolled in a conventional course (lectures and tutorials) and an action learning-based course (project work, learning groups) were…

Despite the inclusion of Asperger syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994) 10 years ago, there is ongoing debate regarding its validity as a diagnostic construct, particularly relative to the diagnosis of autistic disorder when it is not accompanied…

As positive outcomes for children and adolescents with either Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism are related to the development of social communicative competence, recognition of the developmental capacities that contribute to this achievement is essential. Although social communication skills play a central role, developmental…

This article presents three studies chronicling the developing and preliminary psychometric evaluation of a multidimensional self-report measure of creativity -- the Scale of Creative Attributes and Behavior (SCAB). The results of these studies provide evidence that the SCAB is internally consistent, exhibits good initial construct validity…

A teaching model for distance learning (DL) requires a system (a technology) and process (a way of linking resources) that makes distance learning no different than learning in the traditional classroom. The process must support a design that provides for learning, ensures maximum transfer, and is student-centered. The process must provide a…

Learning communities (LC) seek to strengthen and enrich students' connections to each other, their teachers, and the subject matter they are studying. Their success depends on the nature of the learning community program, the learning styles of the students who participate and the reasons why students entered the program. This study uses a…

Given the psychometric limitations of existing measures of Kolb's experiential learning model (ELM), two new scales of learning styles have been developed. The validity of these scales has been supported in samples of undergraduate and MBA students in the USA. This paper provides evidence of some psychometric properties of scores yielded by these…

This paper reports a critique of the literature of problem-based learning (PBL) in medical education. The objective of the review was to examine the various meanings that medical teachers attribute to concepts of adult learning and self-directed learning within the context of PBL. The critique found that there are assumptions about the meanings of…

The idea of metalearning was originally used by John Biggs (1985) to describe the state of 'being aware of and taking control of one's own learning'. This paper explores the concept through collaborative enquiry involving researchers and higher education teachers. An evolved conception is proposed in which metalearning is a subconcept within…

The purposes of this article are to discuss several approaches to reading instruction and to explore how students' learning-style preferences impact upon their achievement. The authors recommend learning-styles specific interventions to guide all students in their journey to literacy. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)