A theory of how children progress through different phases of reading should be an asset both to reading researchers and teachers alike. The present paper provides a brief review of Ehri's influential four phases of reading development: pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic and consolidated alphabetic. The model is flexible enough to…

Knowledge partitioning is a theoretical construct holding that knowledge is not always integrated and homogeneous but may be separated into independent parcels containing mutually contradictory information. Knowledge partitioning has been observed in research on expertise, categorization, and function learning. This article presents a theory of…

In setting up a formal system to specify a grammar formalism, the conventional (mathematical) wisdom is to start with primitives (basic primitive structures) as simple as possible, and then introduce various operations for constructing more complex structures. An alternate approach is to start with complex (more complicated) primitives, which…

In order to understand ongoing activity, observers segment it into meaningful temporal parts. Segmentation can be based on bottom-up processing of distinctive sensory characteristics, such as movement features. Segmentation may also be affected by top-down effects of knowledge structures, including information about actors' intentions. Three…

This study advances a conceptual framework for understanding the transformation of places into recovery machines after major hurricanes. This framework contends that in the years following such disasters, pro-growth coalitions take advantage of new sources of material and symbolic capital to promote further demographic growth. It also contends…

Taking the point of departure in three different narratives concerning training as a cabinet maker, the article shows how the choice of a particular education is ascribed different significance, depending on the period and the individual's social background. In order to grasp the intersection between factors connected to the concepts of generation…

What is the nature of latent predictors that facilitate diagnostic classification? Rupp and Templin (this issue) suggest that these predictors should be multidimensional, categorical variables that can be combined in various ways. Diagnostic Classification Models (DCM) typically use multiple categorical predictors to classify respondents into…

The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical framework to assess students' general business competencies, acquired in core and capstone courses, as learning outcomes. First, the rationale for the use of students' general business competencies as outcomes assessment is provided. Second, the methodology for measuring these competencies is…

Studies of test dimensionality indicate that many large-scale science assessments measure multiple dimensions. These findings have reinforced the perspective that science achievement is an inherently dynamic process and that there is benefit in reporting subscores in science. A limitation with some of these studies is that they fail to indicate…

This study examined the new learning that occurred in a professional development program for participants who aspire to the community college presidency. Knowledge construction occurred on three levels: personal, professional, and disciplinary. Reframing, embracing, and embodying activities toward knowledge construction were evident, and new…

When Piaget ascribed the origin of knowledge to action, he distanced his theory from most other theories of the origins of mind. As a result, Piaget's conception of mental action has been quite controversial. Piaget's recent, functionalist revisions emphasize procedures and their role in the development of structures. In the new view, structures…

This study compared pattern notes generated by participants with word association hierarchies, which is the best current measure of cognitive structure, in order to investigate whether pattern notes could be used for cognitive mapping. The participants were 24 high school physics students. Results are interpreted and discussed. (Author/MT)

Examines four autobiographical self-narratives to see not what they are about, but how the narrators construct themselves. Proposes that an individual's ways of telling and conceptualizing eventually become recipes for structuring experience itself (past and future). (SR)

Describes imagination as the cognitive faculty that mediates a person's relationship with God. Discusses imagination's integrative function and its realm of pure possibility which facilitates openness to God. States that only through imagination grounded in God's spirit can humankind hope to perceive, with increasing degrees of clarity, God's…

Defines "conceptual framework" (an explanatory theory useful for structuring contextual elements within complex settings) and attempts to show its relationship to curriculum research. Discusses two important issues when considering conceptual frameworks in schools: selection of criteria and selection of data collection and analysis…