The work of English cybernetician Gordon Pask on learning styles and strategies is presented. An attempt is made to describe the basic ideas of Conversation Theory, Pask's general theory of cognition. The learning strategies "holism" and "serialism," and the more general learning styles "comprehension learning" and…

Adult learning theory and research on professional development provide a rich background context for examining school leader development for school improvement. The literature on adult learning theory identifies the following generalities about adults as learners: age reduces the speed of learning; adult learners bring life experiences to bear on…

B. F. Skinner's influence on various applications of psychology in education has been greater than J. R. Kantor's, the founder of interbehaviorism. However, the field of education might benefit from a greater input of Kantorian, as opposed to Skinnerian, theory. Policymakers, administrators, and teachers have failed to totally adopt Skinner's…

The efficient reader constructs tentative hypotheses about the meaning of the text that has been read and about the content yet to come. The hypotheses remain tentative until all related information has been accounted for. The reader then constructs a model that considers all of the details in a text. If a promising interpretation fails to account…

Development of geometric congruence and motion was studied through tasks that tapped transformational imagery, correspondence matching, measurement operations, and transformation combinations. Results showed even the youngest children studied could generate strategies for verifying congruence. The dominant strategy in younger children was edge…

Behaviorism cannot adequately explain language processing. A synthesis of the psycholinguistic and information processing approaches of cognitive psychology, however, can provide the basis for a speculative analysis of reading, if this synthesis is tempered by a perceptual learning theory of uncertainty reduction. Theorists of information…

Learning and developmental theories establish a basis for realistically evaluating expectations for responsible sexual behavior by adolescents. Knowledge of the ways in which individuals learn and of the characteristic developmental levels and stages of an individual's physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development should be applicable in…

Currently, three theories of learning dominate classroom practice. First, B.F. Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning states that if behavior, including learning behavior, is reinforced, the probability of its being repeated increases strongly. Different types and schedules of reinforcement have been studied, by Skinner and others, and the…

The link between writing and the development of reasoning abilities, and implications for the college curriculum are discussed. The developmental models/theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, Gilligan, and Perry are described. Perry identifies a level of cognitive development called "dualism," which is a tendency to view the world in absolute,…

An action-theory framework is used to systematically analyze the educational literature about student involvement in learning. Action is self-directed and arises from internal stimuli. In contrast, behavior is other directed and responds to external stimuli. The review focuses on the involvement of secondary learners in curricular, rather than…

Noting that in recent years testing has fallen into disrepute, this paper demonstrates how the construction, use, and validation of tests, if adequately conceived, can increase the level of knowledge about the intricate nature of the reading processes. The first section of the paper discusses the measurement process and the process of test…

This study explores the concept of "transactional distance", a term coined by Moore (1993), which relates to the distance that exists in all learning relationships and can be more evident and potentially problematic in online learning environments. Reducing this psychologically perceived distance to help learners develop social presence…

The learning of mathematics is presented as a cognitive process rather than as a behavioristic one. A generative model of mathematics learning is described. Learning with understanding can occur with discovery or reception treatments. Relevant empirical research is discussed and implications for teaching mathematics as a generative process are…

The escalating success of personal coaching and the significant potential it holds as a vehicle for effective learning, appear to have had little impact within educational contexts to date. In response, this paper therefore presents an introduction to personal coaching practice and its outcomes and examines its processes through a discussion of…

Piaget's developmental theories can be applied to education in three ways: assessment of student readiness, curriculum planning, and choice of teaching techniques. (JH)