This report reviews the literature on noncognitive and other background predictors (e.g., personality, attitudes, and interests) as it pertains to graduate education. The first section reviews measures typically used in studies of graduate school outcomes, such as attrition and time to degree. A review of qualities faculty members and…

With research showing the benefits of self-directed learning, more activities are needed to provide learners opportunities for self-directed practice (Khomson, 1997; Lee, 1998; Phongnapharuk, 2007). A 12-week experimental study was performed with 80 EFL learners; one group contained 40 Communication Arts students and the other one consisted of 40…

Online learning provides learners with more convenient and flexible ways of learning than does a traditional learning environment. Many Thai universities have implemented online learning for their students despite a lack of knowledge and understanding about students' attitudes toward and behavioral intention to using the system. The purpose of…

"A Guide to Better Teaching" is a self-help book that provides anyone teaching a college course with a thorough understanding of what it takes to be an effective teacher. Derived from the authors' extensive research, several interactive assessment tools are included that measure levels of effectiveness according to learner preferences. Each…

Recent research indicated that students' ability to construct evidence-based explanations in classrooms through scientific inquiry is critical to successful science education. Structured argumentation support environments have been built and used in scientific discourse in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, no research work in the…

The present study sponsored by Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas, Iran, intended to see if locus of control really affected students' language achievement. It was hypothesized that subjects' loci of controls affected their GPA's in meaningful and significant ways. The study also tried to measure the effects of students' major and their…

This investigation is about recognizing the effects of comprehension language barriers and adaptability cultural barriers on selected first-generation Vietnamese undergraduate students in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Most Vietnamese students know little or no English before immigrating to the United States; as such, language and…

While there is a resurge of interests and writings on the differentiated instructional process (DIP), and reflection in teaching is important and perennial, there is no known writing which explicitly displays the role of reflection in the DIP. Using a synergistic review of literature, the author contributes to filling this literary gap and clearly…

Computers have become an important part of young children's lives, both as a source of entertainment and education. The National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) position statement on Technology and Young Children (2006) supports the need for equal access to technology for all children with attention to eliminating gender…

Learning styles may be classified according to the sensory modality that one most prefers to use when internalizing information. The four major sensory modalities are visual, aural or auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between preferred learning style, gender, and course scores in…

Multiple and specific learning criteria were used to examine the predictive validity of the Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ). Ninety-nine students in a college of higher learning in The Netherlands participated in a naturally occurring field study. The students were categorized into one of four LSQ dimensions, namely, Activists, Theorists,…

The adoption level of emerging web technologies is on the rise in academic settings. However, a major obstacle in the practice of web-based instruction is the limited understanding of learners' characteristics and perceptions about technology use. Thus there is a need to understand the relationship between students' learning styles and their…

In this paper we present a general framework, called NUCLEO, for the application of socio-constructive educational approaches in higher education. The underlying pedagogical approach relies on an adaptation model in order to improve group dynamics, as this has been identified as one of the key features in the success of collaborative learning…

Among the many studies focusing on the effect of learner and instructional variables on learning outcomes, few studies have investigated the effect of these variables and their mediating mechanisms influencing students' learning within a blended learning environment. This study examined the influence of instructional and learner variables on…

This study investigated how the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to teach rhythm reading skills may be influenced by subjects' level of field dependence/independence. The subjects for the study consisted of 120 middle school instrumental music students divided into four groups based on scores from the Group Embedded Figures…