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.…

Lev Vygotsky (1986-1934) was an educational theorist and psychologist of extraordinarily wide knowledge whose major writings deal with the entire learning-teaching-development experience. Despite a wide-ranging interest in Vygotskian theory, the issue of imagination remains outside of the main line of general inquiries into his work. Thus, there…

Purpose: With significant change as an ongoing challenge, the development and use of a flexible change curriculum is identified as a success factor that will allow an organization to optimize the outcome from change transformations. Design/methodology/approach: After discussing significant change, this paper will contrast two organizations in…

Basic and applied research related to the effects of interspersing trials of maintenance (i.e., review) tasks among trials of acquisition tasks on academic skill development is reviewed. In general, empirical research suggests that interspersing procedures are effective in facilitating acquisition, learning rate, and maintenance. However, some…

In this study of learning to research on a higher degree programme in Education, half the sample of 18 students reported that the experience of learning changed them as people. The lived experience of learning of these students was analysed using an approach based on a Variation Theory of learning. The critical aspects of this object of learning…

This paper seeks to explain how constructivism addresses career as narrative. First, the narrative approach to career is briefly contrasted with traditional ones. Next, the theory of narrative is outlined, and some of the relevance of narrative for understanding career is presented. The notion of constructivism is then discussed from the…

Traditionally, Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has focused on instructional methods to decrease extraneous cognitive load so that available cognitive resources can be fully devoted to learning. This article strengthens the cognitive base of CLT by linking cognitive processes to the processes used by biological evolution. The article discusses recent…

The unquestionably central role of physics in the development of scientific literacy is undermined by its perceived difficulty. An investigation of high school students' use of the concepts of momentum and force suggests that, in the case of mechanics, the reason for physics' unpopularity and image as a "hard" subject is largely due to an…

In this article, the authors interpret an event of collaborative poetry writing in a pre-service teacher education class in order to demonstrate the ways in which different theories of learning are and are not able to account for the production of original poems. The first part of the paper offers a conceptual heuristic that organizes a variety of…

Purpose: To explore whether deliberate organisational change of a public sector organisation (a local municipality) would create an avenue for organisational learning. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was set up to study the means by which the organisational change towards a digital administration was to come about. The organisational…

Criticisms have recently been voiced of constructivism, the leading metaphor of human learning since the 1970s. Inspired by inconsistencies in interpretations of constructivism in current literature, we examine the underlying epistemological beliefs of popular constructivist theories and their criticisms. We find that popular constructivist claims…

New learning theory, underpinning the idea of teaching for self-directed learning, provides new conceptions of learning: the self-regulation of learning, the construct-character of knowledge, the social nature of learning and a dynamic model of intelligence. What conceptions teachers hold may be related to their tolerance of uncertainty. We…

This article proposes a research agenda that addresses the gap between theory and practice in the area of instructional theory. It reflects the beliefs of this writer and attempts to address current issues in the field of instructional technology. Citing the limited literature that currently exists, the purpose of this article is to bring to the…

The development of the concept of matter was explored in children aged 3-13. Eighty four children were asked to classify four sets of objects and matter and to explain their classifications during interviews. Younger children tended to classify using a mixture of extensive properties (properties of objects) and intensive properties (properties of…