Demonstrates the usefulness of classroom assessment in reducing the number of underprepared students. Recommends that faculty use classroom assessment techniques very early in the semester to determine students' knowledge level. Maintains that a vast dichotomy exists between teachers' assumptions regarding students' knowledge and what they…

Reports the design and evaluation of a prototype for learning modules compliant to the SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standard for use with hypermedia systems in Web-based instruction. Discusses a study of undergraduates that considered relations between individual differences in learner characteristics, including intrinsic…

Examines student learning in virtual courses and the relationship between their performance and thinking styles based on a study of Israeli junior high school students. Topics include students' scholastic performance and grades; successful Web searches; completion of assignments; use of asynchronous communication channels; student attitudes;…

Describes a study of elementary and secondary school library media specialists in Oklahoma that compared current knowledge of policy to actual practice regarding off-air videotape recording for use in classrooms. Discussion focuses on strong versus weak educational justification and situational vignettes depicting each. Media specialists'…

This study examined how prior knowledge and experience influenced first-career and second-career beginning science teachers' curriculum and classroom instruction. Observations and interviews indicated that teachers compromised their beliefs about good content and became similar by the end of the year. The classroom curricula of both groups emerged…

Describes a 1995 study of college freshmen at a Scottish university that examined use of computers, knowledge about information technology, and reasons for not studying computing. Gender differences are discussed and results are compared with earlier studies from 1992, 1989, and 1986. (LRW)

Two experiments assessed the effects of activation of prior knowledge through small-group discussion. College students (n=39) and Dutch secondary school students (n=88) were asked to elaborate on possible explanations of a natural phenomenon. Data suggested that such activation of prior knowledge can be a successful instructional strategy. (SLD)

Results from a survey of 65 Australian first-year teacher-trainees indicate that the majority of students are positively inclined but ill prepared to take advantage of the computers they find at their disposal when entering a teacher education training institution. Implications for teacher education courses are explored. (IAH)

Reviews how background knowledge fits into a model of the expository writing process. Describes a project involving gifted seventh-grade students who increased their background knowledge about their chosen research paper topics in order to overcome some of the difficulty of expository writing. (RS)

Discusses the unique approaches, well-put notions, fine-tuned procedures, or insightful conclusions in 10 dissertations nominated for the 1989 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the International Reading Association. (RS)

Describes study of undergraduate students that measured four types of attitudes toward computers: (1) computer anxiety; (2) computer confidence; (3) computer liking; and (4) perception of computer usefulness. Independent variables used in the study include gender; keyboard familiarity; prior computer experience; and knowledge of programing, word…

Description of academic computing services at Syracuse University focuses on surveys of students and faculty that have identified hardware and software use, problems encountered, prior computer experience, and attitudes toward computers. Advances in microcomputers, word processing, and graphics are described; resource allocation is discussed; and…

Reviews current literature about personal, demographic, situational, and cognitive attributes that affect computer-aided decision making. The effectiveness of computer-aided decision making is explored in relation to decision quality, effectiveness, and confidence. Studies of the effects of age, anxiety, cognitive type, attitude, gender, and prior…

Describes a study that was conducted to determine how high school students would solve an information problem: specifically, what prior learning students had about information seeking and use, and how they would use that prior learning. Highlights include group work; topic selection; and reasons for unsuccessful use of libraries, including…

Two experiments investigated the role of text coherence in junior high school students' comprehension of science texts. Found that text coherence improved readers' comprehension, but also that giving readers with sufficient background knowledge an incoherent text that forced them to infer unstated relations engaged them in compensatory processing,…