Notes that Halford's book does not really address children's own understanding but rather the psychologist's attempt to understand children from the outside. Discusses the five major sets of ideas at the core of Halford's explanations of capacity, complexity/dimensionality, development, and learning. Examines two arguments against Halford's…

Comments on Gauvain's discussion, in this issue, of the development of thinking from a sociocultural perspective, expanding her analysis by comparing research on apes who have developed in natural habitats with apes raised by humans in something resembling a human culture. Argues that the study of nonhuman primates can contribute to the emerging…

Reviews research on the acquisition of second-language (L2) phonology, focusing on whether adult learners have access to the principles and parameters of Universal Grammar (UG). It argues that UG is still accessible in L2 phonological acquisition, and parameters can be reset but that the Subset Principle can impede learning success. (51…

Discusses the interaction between children's minds and the learning environment, offering a conceptual framework that aims at creating authentic contexts where the quality and variety of mediated learning experiences will enable children to build a deep understanding within the domain studied. (MDM)

Presents steps taken in planning, implementing, and evaluating a descriptive study that compares student approaches to learning in two settings: (1) a traditional university class with face-to-face instruction; and (2) a distance education course. A discussion and figures analyze student responses to questionnaires and interviews concerning…

Suggests that the ability to process narrative information is fundamental to understanding human psychological development. Notes that a culture's system of understanding and interpreting the world is carried mostly by stories and texts. Explores how narrative understanding can be modeled in Fuzzy Trace Theory by using the principles of this…

Presents the view that "developmental research" is needed in which small-scale curriculum development is cyclically coupled to in-depth classroom research of teaching-learning processes. Such "didactical" research methodology should result in worked-out examples of successful ways of teaching, according to new conceptual…

Cultures have distinctive learning style patterns, but the great variation among individuals within groups requires educators to use diverse teaching strategies. Researchers identify three kinds of information about culture and learning styles: observation-based descriptions of cultural groups of learners, data-based descriptions of specific…

Reviews literature on developmental students' negative attitudes toward mathematics and themselves. Describes a model for math tutoring emphasizing the reduction of math anxiety and development of capacities for independent learning through dialogue, analysis of error, response to affective needs, reeducation about the learning process, and…

Discusses computational studies of learning in artificial neural networks and findings that may provide insights into the learning abilities of the human brain. Describes efforts to test theories about brain information processing, using artificial neural networks. Vignettes include information concerning how a neural network represents…

Proposes an instructional transaction class hierarchy and describes capability, knowledge, interactions, and associated transactions for three classes of transactions: (1) component transactions (identify, execute, and interpret); (2) abstraction transactions (judge, classify, decide, generalize, and transfer); and (3) association transactions…

A study explored the hypothesis that two independent sources of internal control regulate academic learning. College students (n=99) completed an inventory of active (executive) and dynamic (nonexecutive) learning processes. Results were correlated with student achievement. Findings support the hypothesis and reveal interactions between sources of…

Authors describe some alternative conceptions held by Portuguese physics students about mechanics and compare students' scientific conceptions with the evolution of historical ideas. Authors contend that teacher knowledge about the history of science can facilitate teaching for conceptual change in physics. (over 20 references) (Authors/PR)

This paper examines how some fundamental mechanisms of nervous system activity can explain human information processing and the acquisition of knowledge and provides additional theoretical support for constructivist applications to science education reform. The implications for scientific epistemology and conceptual change processes in science…

A guided reciprocal peer-questioning procedure (GRPQP) was used by 65 college students (in 2 experiments) for learning expository material presented in classroom lectures. Results support the feasibility of using the GRPQP in real classroom settings, because it promotes peer interaction and learning in cooperative groups. (SLD)