Research findings concerning some of the basic features of the learning process are discussed, together with their practical applications to the training process. The article proposes a three-stage framework for understanding the learning process: attract attention, maintain attention, and facilitate effective coding and storing of new material.…

Presents a study which attempts to link current theory to practical problems of applied communication. The power of coorientational variables is tested and compared with the power of commonly used individual characteristics in predicting the amounts and types of information sought by buyers of cosmetics. (JMF)

Answers such central questions as what information is, what relevance is, how one tells what a document is about, and what an information need is. These discussions lead to a description of an ideal information retrieval system. (Author/JD)

Investigated effects of orders of presentation of oral and written information upon academic performance. Analysis revealed that students who received the oral presentation as the second exposure to the information reported significantly higher grade point averages than those for whom the oral presentation represented the first exposure.…

Presents paths for theoretical research and practical procedures that may help teachers make new technology pedagogically relevant. Discusses the need to develop learner autonomy to help students process information in meaningful ways and become independent learners by developing effective learning strategies, transfer skills, and a greater sense…

When faculty evaluation systems are proposed, students, faculty, and administrators often think only of questionnaires and assignment of data-processing tasks. Much more must be considered, including balancing the needs of all constituencies, designing student-rating forms and administration procedures, and the treatment and uses of the…

Discourse analysis addresses questions regarding both spoken and written communications and can be applied to purposes and practices of information study that appear in books and journals in the field. Applications of discourse analysis to information include investigation of the social, political, and technical implications of the word…

Discussion of information democracy focuses on information technologies and society and on social equity in the distribution and use of information resources. Highlights include relationships between society and technology; concepts of democracy; concepts of social justice and social equity; information needs, sources, and uses; and mass…

Discusses Judy M. Pitts, academician, in memorium. Profiles her first year in academe; the role of research in her teaching (including examples of assignments); the focus of her research on information needs, seeking, and use; and her role as a teacher and service provider. (Author/AEF)

Drawing primarily from theory and research in the cognitive literature on learning, this paper defines and illustrates the various components of task knowledge and attempts to show the functional relationship between task knowledge and autonomous learning. An approach to learner training that is (task) knowledge based is discussed. (54 references)…

To be effective in the current rapidly changing environment, individuals need more than a knowledge base. They also need information literacy which includes techniques for exploring new information, synthesizing it, and using it in practical ways. Undergraduate education should focus on such resource-based learning directed at problem solving.…

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools believes that programs to improve the undergraduate teaching and learning process should include an appropriate emphasis on information literacy and other resource-based learning strategies. College mission and goal statements and the accreditation process should all reflect this focus.…

Discusses the nature of information and considers objective versus subjective views of information; examines concepts dealing with information practice, including access to and use of information; and discusses impacts on the education of information professionals based on a course offered at the University of Technology (Australia). (Contains 13…

Discusses issues related to several models of knowledge transfer and utilization (KTU) from two points of view: that models contain nonspecific treatment characteristics that should be accounted for in their use; and that models provide quantitative and qualitative frameworks that may be ready for quantitative consideration. A nonspecific KTU…

Data from 4 experiments in which 136 college students read a situation description and took the perspective of an uninformed addressee to determine whether a speaker was sarcastic suggest that readers use perspective-irrelevant information. The finding poses a problem for theories of language that assume the use of only relevant information. (SLD)