Discusses the use of new information technology in schools and reviews research on the psychology of learning and instruction. Highlights include a theory of expertise; individual differences in learning; the role of prior knowledge; social interaction and learning; transfer of cognitive skills; and designing computer-based learning environments.…

Presents a case study involving two teaching certification students. Examines how a social studies methods course and a one-year elementary school postbaccalaureate teacher education program influenced students' educational beliefs and practices. Finds influences are partial, differential, and interactive with students' backgrounds and…

Describes a study of graduate students that examined search behavior and affective response to a hypertext-based bibliographic information retrieval system called HyperLynx for searchers with different search skills and backgrounds. Previous experience with hypertext or Boolean searching is examined, and search times are discussed. (21 references)…

The second part of a British study of elementary teacher trainees' economic and industrial understanding is presented. In this segment, student teachers' attitudes toward economic issues and their perceptions of teaching as work are examined, particularly as they affect implementation of the economics portion of the national curriculum. (MSE)

The impact of learning mathematics under successful and unsuccessful cooperative group conditions was studied for 181 seventh graders in Montreal (Quebec) who had a learned-helplessness or mastery-oriented attributional style and different prior mathematics achievement. Learning of helpless and less able students may depend on accomplishments and…

Knowing and learning about students' lives are an essential part of teaching reading to adults. Student journals provide a way for teachers to know and respond to students' personal histories. Adult learners must value themselves and the knowledge they already possess in adult basic education and other realms. (SLD)

Describes an undergraduate education course on teaching in a multicultural society. Finds students to be multicultural illiterates, based on their lack of knowledge of multicultural terms. Suggests videotapes and textbooks for building students' multicultural knowledge base. Presents field activities that promote greater multicultural awareness.…

Reports on a research project that investigated seventh grade science students' cognitive, affective, and physical behaviors as they used the Yahooligans! search engine to find information on a specific search task. Describes measurement techniques that included software, interviews, and questionnaires, and discusses implications for user training…

Reviews the traditional definition of practical work in science, offers a different definition of it, and points out that practical work is not always laboratory based. Discusses the logistics of coordinating fieldwork. Contains 17 references. (DDR)

Reviews the current literature concerning prior knowledge in an attempt to clarify problems with the terminology. Identifies the three main problems: lack of definition or vagueness, nominal versus real definitions, and different names/same constructs or same name/different constructs. Includes a conceptual map of prior knowledge terminology. (MJP)

Describes a study of students at the Open University of Hong Kong that investigated gender differences in factors that contributed to successful achievement in distance education. Considers previous experience; study habits; motivation; help-seeking and use of support services; family, social, and work context; self-perceptions and attitudes.…

This paper discussed the concept of computer competency and investigated the relationship between students' computer competency and their perception of enjoyment and difficulty level of web-based distance-learning courses. Participants were 237 entering graduate students in library and information science from a mid-southwestern state university…

This article discusses the relationship among an individual's cognitive style, attitude to learning, and his or her achievement in the context of computer aided learning (CAL). The results of a small-scale study involving 32 students (18 male and 14 female) studying their first electronics module during an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Design and…

Children from non-English-speaking homes are doubly disadvantaged when learning English in school. They enter school with less prior knowledge of English sounds, word meanings, and sentence structure, and they get little or no reinforcement of their learning outside of the classroom. This article compares the classroom standard practice of…

This article discusses different approaches to reading instruction for EFL learners based on theoretical frameworks. The author starts with the bottom-up approach to reading instruction, and briefly explains phonics and behaviorist ideas that inform this instructional approach. The author then explains the top-down approach and the new cognitive…