Eight articles review and report on research involving computers and problem solving skills. Topics discussed include research design; problem solving skills and programing languages, including BASIC and LOGO; computer anxiety; diagnostic programs for arithmetic problems; and relationships between ability and problem solving scores and between…

Compares the performance of education undergraduates with high or low spatial-skill scores who learned how to calculate surface area using hypertext, computer-assisted instruction, conventional paper materials, or program control. Results are reported for misconceptions, correct problems, time on lesson, enjoyment rating, screens viewed, and…

Discusses a study of the ability of 11 variables to predict performance, achievement, teacher evaluation, and retention of fifth grade beginning instrumentalists. Reports that scholastic ability and academic achievement tests were leading predictors of performance achievement. Concludes that socioeconomic status and self-concept played prominent…

Discussion of learning styles and learner control focuses on a study of college students that paired field-dependent and field-independent learning styles with different instructional control treatments. The use of interactive video lessons and a printed self-study guide is described, and treatments for the experimental and control groups are…

Surveys college freshmen about different types of high school coursework and their relationship to academic aptitude and college success. Possible predictors of college success considered are the number of "academic,""aesthetic," and "practical" course credits, as well as high school grade point average, American…

Examined gender differences in the mathematics performance of high-achieving fourth and sixth graders, noting the effects of ethnicity. Scores from 1996 California Achievement Tests indicated that students in both grades showed significant gender differences. There were no interaction effects of gender by ethnicity. There were inconsistent racial…

This article focuses on the changing concepts of the university student and teacher, of learning and teaching, and of the university as such because of the use and integration of electronic learning environments. This mode of digital learning implies important changes in established practices in which students and teachers inevitably take part.…

Using the grounded theory approach, this research investigation, drawing on a larger study, examined the factors that were most instrumental in influencing African American males' decisions to pursue engineering as an academic major and career choice. Using open-ended biographical questionnaires, individual interviews, and focus groups, numerous…

The focus of this study is the relationship between language attitude, beliefs, efficacy, English language competence, and language achievement. Two hundred and eighty-five students from five metropolitan primary schools in Western Australia completed a specially designed questionnaire based on the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (Gardner,…

This Paper argues that the learning opportunities needed by pre-school children and adolescents beyond school have much in common: both confront what the pioneer of youth work Josephine Brew (1943) named the key problem of the "whole man": combining "social fellowship, recreation and education in one organisation". For both…

The School of Education, Training and Development at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg offers a Bachelor of Education (Honours) to practising teachers who already have a four year teaching diploma. The programme is delivered through interactive learning materials and Saturday tutorial sessions. However, interviews and a student survey seem…

This article describes research on the learning of object-oriented programming (OOP) by novices. During two academic years, we taught OOP to high school students, using Java and BlueJ. Our approach to teaching featured: objects-first, teaching composed classes relatively early, deferring the teaching of main methods, and focusing on class…

Opinions about the purpose and effectiveness of test preparation seminars vary, but it is clear that preparation for standardized tests is here to stay. The literature suggests that students do benefit from preparation for standardized tests. The effect of test preparation seminars on standardized achievement tests was studied for 30 of 100 high…

This study investigated the efficacy of noncognitive variables for predicting college student achievement in an introductory psychology course. The sample included 102 new first-year students at a private urban university and 233 new first-year students at a rural public university. Data were collected on self-ratings of overall academic ability,…

This study examined the relationship between intelligence as defined by a verbal and nonverbal combined score, obtained on the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test and final grades received in the following six academic subjects: reading, math, spelling, science, English and social studies. The sample for this study consisted of 159 elementary students…