The technical education instructor needs to emphasize certain tenets from the psychology of education in teaching-learning situations: meaningful learning; sequential experiences; success in student learning; purposeful activities; provision for individual differences among learners; knowledge, skills, and attitudinal goals to represent balance…

This paper provides information on teaching science to students with special needs. The focus is placed on students with learning disabilities who may behave inappropriately due to frustration about their academic deficits. This perception is often brought about by a predominant mode of instruction in schools which is text-driven,…

This paper introduces a theoretical treatment of the concept of intelligence that provides for intellectual diversity and contrasts this view with the more traditional notion of intelligence. Next, the paper draws from this theory several implications for education, paying particular attention to the question of assessment. It is shown why this…

This use of the term "student's misconceptions" reflects a knowledge transmission view of teaching rather than a constructivist view. Among science educators there has been an undue emphasis on changing student views into views accepted by the scientific community. This overemphasis mirrors the preoccupation with transmitting the "right answer"…

This literature review examines a hypermedia learning environment from a semantic network basis and the application of such an environment to second language learning. (A semantic network is defined as a conceptual representation of knowledge in human memory). The discussion is organized under the following headings and subheadings: (1) Advantages…

Educators are under almost constant pressure to make schooling relevant to the lives of their students. Students, however, who are never exposed to the realms of possibility beyond their own immediate experience hardly have an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of education, since everyday experience tends to reinforce social inequalities.…

In addition to the cult mystique that the notion of self-directed learning (SDL) has attained, controversy has arisen over its definition, its proper environment, and other issues. Consequently, a number of issues have arisen. The first is that adults are naturally self-directed. The reality is that adults' reactions to and capability for SDL vary…

For 15 years an ongoing research project at the University of Pittsburgh has focused on the effects of variations in visual complexity and color on the storage and retrieval of visual information by learners. Research has shown that visual materials facilitate instruction, but has not fully delineated the interactions of visual complexity and…

This paper presents a critical analysis of the forms of constructivism that owe their origin either directly or indirectly to Piaget's theory. The paper is organized into three sections. The first provides a brief synopsis of the structuralist assumptions underlying Piagetian theory and then demonstrates the ways in which these assumptions…

This document outlines principles of learning that should be followed by teachers of gifted students. Principles include: (1) students' need to experience challenge in the classroom; (2) students' need to attain as much as individual abilities permit; (3) curricular emphasis on students' personal interests; (4) meaningful experiences; (5)…

Logical learning theory stresses that learning occurs through logical relation. Materials most "related" to the cognitive organization of the learner are most readily retained. To test whether the "chronological" constructs of covert rehearsal and familiarity could account for the learning attributed to "logical"…

This report, written in Finnish with a 10-page summary in English, concerns research on the interrelationship between Piagetian operations, various aspects of information processing capacity and mathematical thought processes and strategies related to number and measurement. In a theoretical discussion, Piaget's research on mathematico-logical…

The present study (1) explores the extent to which the standard format of the conservation assessment task may mask conserving abilities of preschoolers and (2) investigates how the wording of a typical conservation task may affect the type of justifications offered by children of two different socioeconomic backgrounds. Subjects included 48 4- to…

Objective rules of sequencing were applied to elementary level instructional material to determine their effect on time, errors made during instruction, and posttest errors. Results are discussed in terms of the application of the rules to various types of instructional material. (Author/BJG)

Investigates the differential effect of an advanced organizer on the meaningful learning and retention of information presented to the learner in a sequential, structured program of individualized instruction. (Author/GS)