This study examined levels of techophobia, described as negative psychological reactions toward technology, in a sample of South African university students. Describes use of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and reports results that show techophobia was inversely correlated with computer experience, weakly correlated with age, but not associated with…

Shows that the construction of mental representations that capture a situation based on the comprehension of a diagram are mediated by the possession of appropriate background knowledge. Indicates that background knowledge deficiencies may make it difficult for beginning students of a domain to construct suitable mental representations from…

Investigates the effects of a constructivist versus objectivist learning environment on college students' conceptual change using a computer simulation of the human cardiovascular system as an instructional tool. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Suggests that the teaching/learning/research process should be rethought of as a collaborative social learning for constructivism to be meaningful in science education. Includes perspectives on George Kelly's personal construct psychology and Glaserfeld's radical constructivism. (AIM)

Describes a model for addressing prerequisite mathematics needs. A small set of prerequisite skills for the content course is identified and assessed, and students needing extra help are assisted. Targeted students include those with only marginal deficits rather than those needing full course remediation. Presents results from empirical testing…

Examined how object shape, taxonomic relatedness, and prior lexical knowledge influenced children's overextensions (e.g., referring to pomegranates as apples). Researchers presented items that disentangled the three factors and used a novel comprehension task where children could indicate negative exemplars. Error patterns differed by task and by…

Examines reader and text variables related to conceptual change learning from science textbooks. Shows it is difficult to change readers' prior knowledge by reading texts that are inconsistent with that knowledge, but refutation text was shown to impact students' prior knowledge when that knowledge contained naive scientific conceptions. Addresses…

Discussion of prior learning and acquired knowledge focuses on a study at Ben Gurion University (Israel) that examined the occurrence and nature of learning in an earth science course and its relations with prior knowledge from a prerequisite course. Highlights include concept definitions; cognitive mapping; course sequencing; and course design.…

Describes the Ontario college system's Prior Learning Assessment program for adult learners, focusing on outcomes and characteristics of students completing the process at Seneca College from April 1994 to February 1995. Indicates that of 77 participants, 46 were female, the mean age was 31, and 81% passed the process successfully. (BCY)

Discusses the need for a graduate degree in librarianship. Topics include differences between undergraduate and master's level courses; experience; in-house training programs; incentives for library support staff to get a master's degree; and professionalism, including the ability to build community, technological literacy, and a belief in the…

A study of 144 college students divided into high and low prior-knowledge groups and assigned to four treatment groups found (1) little interaction between prior knowledge of the human cardiovascular system and treatment and (2) significant effects on the drawing test. Terminology and elaboration tests revealed little effects among treatments.…

Investigates textual coherence of popular psychology articles mediated through the theory of frames and identifies the linguistic evidence of factual frames. Inferencing is also discussed as a supplementary means to comprehension, with particular reference to the notion of bridging assumptions. Evidence for textual frames is discussed in relation…

Focuses on interactive journals and literature study to illustrate four principles: connect students' background knowledge and personal experiences with literacy lessons; foster the use of students' primary language in literacy lessons; create opportunities for students to meaningfully and authentically apply their developing oral language and…

Tested how domain-related knowledge, syntactic complexity, and reading topic influence inference generation in the written recalls of English-speaking participants after they read Spanish historical texts. Three types of inferences were examined: within-text inferences, elaborative inferences, and incorrect inferences. (Author/JL)

Provides a rationale for and a brief description of an adjunct program that focuses on helping minority students identify and understand their experiences in crossing cultures as a means of helping them succeed in a science and society introductory course. (WRM)