Researchers revised a psychological assessment of organization in memory to measure organization in thinking. Secondary students viewed a videotape, wrote essays, then created word trees using provided words that eliminated the memory component in their original task. The ordered-tree technique reliably measured organization in thinking.…

Discusses theories of learning; reviews previous generalizations for instructional design; and presents 21 guidelines for effective instructional design that are related to planning, preparation, implementation, and evaluation. Highlights include objectives; learner profiles; cognitive maps or schema; mastery learning techniques; metacognitive…

Nursing (n=109) and medical (n=108) students from a large Canadian research university were surveyed to determine differences between first- and fourth-year students' perceptions of necessary competencies. Nursing students' perceptions of competencies important for medicine were more congruent than medical students' perceptions of those important…

Two teaching methods were used to enhance the use of cognitive reading strategies among 89 Hispanic bilingual students in grades 3 through 5. Although there were differences in the use of cognitive reading strategies by grade and treatment group, instruction in cognitive strategy use decreased the use of weak reading strategies and was more…

Children from South Africa and Sweden were asked to draw their "future family." The drawings were compared to investigate whether or not children's human figure drawings reflect sociocultural variations. Cultural variations were found in terms of spatial relationships (social distance, occlusion, and size scaling). However, cultural…

Examines the individual differences in cognitive styles of black male elementary school students to determine the implications of these differences for reading comprehension processes, especially of expository text. Results from 43 4th-grade students from 3 urban public schools reveal differences in reading comprehension for low and high…

Examined hypothesis that cognitive misers (CM)--individuals low in the need for cognition--forego effortful message scrutiny with a presumably truthful communicator. Results showed that CMs depended more on message scrutiny when a knowledgeable source is of questionable honesty than when the source's honesty is clear. Other factors are discussed.…

Describes a study that compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and lecture approaches in teaching vocal anatomy and function to 60 undergraduate music students with different learning styles. Highlights include background on learning styles, implications for the use of CAI with various learning styles, and recommendations…

This overview reviews a program of interlinked cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations of the nature of cognitive development in infants and young children with Down's Syndrome. The research falls into three groupings: object concept studies, operant learning experiments, and IQ studies. Early results suggest a common learning style which…

The development and validation of a Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) for use with upper primary school children studying science in an Asian context are described. Four important learning dimensions were identified: (1) concrete-abstract; (2) passive-active; (3) low-high self-confidence/self-esteem; and (4) superficial-deep motivation. (KR)

This paper compares dynamic assessment of reading abilities to traditional assessment in the areas of orientation (process versus product), procedure (response to instruction versus enumeration of existing abilities), and interpretation (patterns of response to instruction versus indices such as percentiles or stanines). (DB)

Describes learning environments, including cognitive flexibility hypertexts, anchored instruction, and computer-supported intentional learning environments. A brief history of educational technology is presented; and problems with open learning environments are discussed, including inappropriate learning theory, deficient metacognitive skills, and…

This study investigated the cognitive style (field dependence/independence) and learning strategies of undergraduate students in learner-controlled computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Three learning strategies were identified, but it was concluded that cognitive styles and learning strategies may be the result of the computer software design,…

Reports a study to examine the role of context on the ability to interpret graphs. Graph tests involving 2 ecological contexts were presented to 14- and 15-year-old students (n=23) in the form of an interview. Results indicated how students used their contextual knowledge in interpreting the graphs. (MDH)

Diagnosis of cognitive learning skills could be the first step to reducing painful learning environments. Every student has an individual learning style and different cognitive learning abilities. Teachers need to be aware of these differences and modify instruction based on the student needs. (MLF)