Explains differences between evaluation and assessment as used at the LEAD (Learning through Evaluation, Adaptation, and Dissemination) Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Highlights include researcher evaluation efforts; faculty assessment of students; the Learning through Technology (LT2) Web site; and a case study of assessment and…

Suggests using activities from "Physics Resources and Instructional Strategies for Motivating Students" designed to promote student understanding of physics principles. The activities are part of a learning cycle in which student explorations of concrete phenomena precede the introduction or development of abstract concepts. (SAH)

Considers the psychology of multimedia. Topics include software development, including decisions about sound and image quality; theories of multiple intelligences; the psychology of learning; a model that includes semantics, semiotics, and synthetics; and the impact of media psychology on the use of multimedia for learning. (LRW)

Calls for a coalition of different research methods and strategies to better understand learning and development. Describes two such strategies: (1) testing-the-limits decomposing age-graded differences in upper limits of plasticity; and (2) experimental simulation of development, a coordinated sequence of theory-guided research steps. Both…

Dual task procedures--elaborative strategy use and finger tapping--were used to examine both recall and mental effort demands of elaboration strategy use among second and third graders. Results indicated that boys and girls did not differ in recall of arbitrarily paired items, but for feminine pairs, girls recalled more than boys; for masculine…

Clarifies the author's position on constructivism and whether nature determines what is produced as knowledge in human development. The author states his form of constructivism as a theory of rational knowing, not a metaphysics of being, for whatever things we know, we know only insofar as having constructed them as viable entities in our…

Argues against Glasersfeld's (1996) position that individual experience, not metaphysics, dictates that knowing is itself a metaphysical position. It further disputes Glasersfeld's assertion that people are necessarily constructed differently in our minds than objects, but agrees with Glasersfeld that proceeding with the business of education does…

The Learning Cycle contains three phases. In the exploration phase, students construct shared understanding of critical characteristics of a concept. The teacher introduces a concept in the concept introduction phase. The application phase introduces activities to extend the concept. Includes five concept activities. (SAH)

Examines metamemory for categorized lists of items among college students. Judgments of learning (JOLs) were obtained either immediately after study or following a brief delay. Results indicate that delayed JOLs were more accurate than immediate JOLs only when knowledge based cues were used. Indicates that the phrasing of metamemory cues can have…

Presents an inquiry activity with a learning cycle approach to engage students in testing their own hypotheses about how molecules move through cell membranes. Offers student materials and teacher materials, including teaching tips for each phase of the learning cycle. (Contains 11 references.) (ASK)

Identifies learning to learn and information literacy as crucial skills for independent learning, which is becoming the dominant educational paradigm. Outlines characteristics of the ideal library for lifelong learners in terms of resources, access, and services. (SK)

Because individual, societal, and work-related interests are interrelated, greater connections between meanings constructed from work and nonwork experiences are needed. A reconciling framework gives centrality to generative and productive activity of vocational, which includes being, living, and working with others. (SK)

Nursing students (n=29) were tested at entry and exit in a program using inquiry-based learning, an adaptation of problem-based learning. Students continued to use memorization despite its surface learning quality. A combination of memorization, conceptualization, and reflection may be best for understanding as well as retention. (SK)

Neuropsychology professor Steven Petersen describes what scientists are finding out about brain development, synaptic growth and wiring, intentional and incidental learning, the role of emotion in learning, and declarative and implicit memory systems. Neuroscience has only the broadest outline of principles to offer today's educators. (MLH)

Sustainable assessment is a measure of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for lifelong learning. Higher education assessment should meet the needs of the course and prepare learners for assessing themselves. Formative assessment should use a criterion-based framework and separate feedback from grading. (SK)