This study examines the claim that cognitive preferences in science are no more than expressions of levels of cognitive operation as described by Bloom's Taxonomy. 667 twelfth grade students of chemistry and 989 twelfth grade biology students took a cognitive preference and an achievement test in their respective disciplines. The limitations of…

There seems to be much justified scepticism about the value of learning theories and educational research when applied to the complexities of student learning. Discusses some insights provided by educational and psychological research and its practical value for lecturers and students in higher education. (Author/RK)

Presents a study of the effects of interaction between a child and his mother or an older sibling on the child's object sorting behavior. Other factors studied included sex of sibling and family size. Subjects were 120 first grade children. (BD)

When poor and normal reading second and sixth grade students received treatment in one of three methods of teaching word identification, the whole-word/meaning-based method fostered a global processing strategy, while the phonics method fostered an analytic strategy. A combination of both methods fostered the use of both strategies and generally…

Comparison of the free recall of learning-disabled (N=24) and non-disabled (N=24) eight- and ten-year-old readers during directive and nondirective encoding conditions found that both groups recalled more semantically- than nonsemantically-organized items. Learning-disabled readers preferred to encode categorically-organized items nonsemantically…

This checklist, designed to help elementary school teachers assess why a student is unable to complete a classroom assignment, lists criteria grouped under physical, academic, perceptual, behavioral, and motor factors. Compensatory actions such as adapting the classroom environment or referring the student for further evaluation are suggested. (CB)

A fable illustrates the characteristics of four types of learners who are differentiated by a specific learning need (obligation, stimulation, competence, or personalization) and points out the need for teachers to recognize individual differences among students and treat them according to their individual style. (CB)

Examined whether a more theoretically consistent version of the Cognitive Differentiation Grid (CDG) would yield results different from the currently used CDG. Found that college students (N=84) using their own constructs evidenced greater vocational differentiation than did those using the CDG and that males evidenced greater vocational…

Based on the results of research concerning the characteristics of adults as learners and theory of individual learning styles, suggests that software documentation should be organized with a flexible format, and with content that relates each piece of software to the user's relevant past experience. (SKC)

Effects of stimulant medication on word processing were assessed in 31 attention-deficit-disordered children (ages 6-16). Results suggested that methylphenidate may selectively improve the phonological level of word processing, and that favorable effects are produced through inhibition of excessive right hemisphere activity in response to task…

Describes a study that examined the cognitive styles of African students in order to propose appropriate strategies for bibliographic instruction in African colleges. The results of the cognitive tests given to students are presented, and recommendations for appropriate teaching strategies are outlined. (12 references) (CLB)

Investigation into fourth- through sixth-grade students' (N=257) motivational differences regarding computer-assisted mathematics instruction revealed that intrinsically-motivated students performed better at the computer, but not on a paper-and-pencil achievement test, than extrinsically-motivated students. Students who had self-criteria for…

The efficacy of using graphic representations of concepts, which are more readily generated on a computer than in traditional texts, was studied. The study, which involved teaching computer programming, is described. The necessity of further research is discussed. (JL)

Results of a study showed that an outline helped field-dependent students in recall of high structure information and field-independent students in recall of low structure information. Performance of field-dependent and field-independent students was equivalent on probed recall of low-structure information. (Author/MLW)