This paper introduces a recently developed e-learning design and development tool called Learning Designer[TM] (version 1.0). Learning Designer assists learning designers and developers to build e-learning courses with Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant learning objects using decision-making aids and recommended templates…

This article presents a brief overview of developments in educational psychology over the last twenty-five years. It firstly presents an historical context by reviewing four basic emphases in educational psychology; cognitive psychology, behavioural psychology, social cognitive theory and humanism. The article then reviews the growth in cognitive…

This paper traces the evolution of a theory of learning in nature in order to explain how people learn in natural settings. The intellectual roots of the theory in informal learning, cognition, affective development, experiential and meaningful learning are described and the synthesis into a comprehensive theory of learning in nature are…

The aim of this article is to problematise and discuss collaboration between children as a means of learning and as an essential aspect of pedagogical quality in educational settings. In theories of learning, children's social interaction and collaboration are highlighted as fundamental to their learning. This implies that children's opportunities…

In this article the use of case studies for investigating undergraduate students? and Ph.D. students? interpretations of environmental course content and environmental research is critically examined. The case studies were carried out with the intention of exploring students? meanings, as well as elaborating learning theories. The qualitative data…

Early childhood, when young children are already capable of undergoing aesthetic experience, must be the starting point for aesthetic education. Despite increasing attention to the significant values of the arts in early childhood classrooms, no theoretical framework to support aesthetic education has been established. This article introduces the…

What do we learn about interdisciplinary collaboration and faculty learning from the three cases presented in Chapters Three to Five? What ideas will higher education researchers, faculty development practitioners, academic leaders, and professors want to consider?

The effects of computer animations and mental animation on people's mental models of a mechanical system are examined. In 3 experiments, students learned how a mechanical system works from various instructional treatments including viewing a static diagram of the machine, predicting motion from static diagrams, viewing computer animations, and…

This chapter describes a four-lens model for understanding adult learning theories and provides adult educators and administrators with a useful conceptual framework for working with adult learners in adult degree programs.

This chapter describes how by adopting a cultural theory of learning, members of a community-based research team deepened their understanding of the nature, pervasiveness, and contribution of everyday learning processes of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Nova Scotia, Canada.

This study examined the relation of self-efficacy to length and type of training in a sample of Italian career counselors. Findings indicated that amount of career counseling training was positively related to counselors' self-efficacy regarding their abilities to conceptualize vocational problems, deal with career indecision concerns, and provide…

The authors conducted an investigation of The Pennsylvania State University's Alcohol Intervention Program Level 2 (AIP2) to determine goodness of fit of the program components and its underpinning theories. They determined that the Health Belief Model, Social Norms Theory, Social Learning Theory, and the Transtheoretical Model Stages of Change…

With the substantial growth of an aging population, professionals in gerontology need to know how to work with groups of older people. Group work has become a popular means of helping the elderly, for example, to cope with losses (support groups) and to engage in social activities with peers (groups in day centers) as well as to support caregivers…

We investigate a unique attempt at working out a unified theory of second language acquisition (SLA), Carroll's "Autonomous Induction Theory". This theory integrates SLA traditions that often ignore each other and adds a learning theory where novel information gets created to resolve learning problems. Cognitive universals, modularity theory,…

This article details findings from a systematic review and evaluation of frameworks and taxonomies for understanding thinking, with particular reference to learning in post-16 contexts. It describes the means used to identify and evaluate 35 frameworks and identifies three that appear to be particularly useful in the context of lifelong learning.…