A biochemistry examination administered to 114 dental students consisted of 20 items that measured knowledge and 18 items that measured either comprehension or application. Each item was written with five choices, half the class being presented the original version, half a content-similar derivative that included three choices. (Author/LMO)

Hint, pegword experience, and hint plus pegword experience conditions were evaluated against three other conditions: (1) a no strategy control condition; (2) an instructional treatment to maximize elaborative strategy use; and (3) an instructional treatment to minimize elaborative strategy use. Results clarify the nature of elaborative production…

A monitoring interpretation of the transfer of complete learning skills was discussed. Individual and group monitoring in the learning session were promoted through required vocalization of reasoning and working with a partner, respectively. (Author/LMO)

Demonstrates how three- and four-year-old children's (N=20) learning of a completely novel route across a city district is enhanced by an accompanying adult making the child aware of potential landmarks. The importance of permanent/ephemeral landmarks in the child's verbal and modelled-map accounts of the route and educational implications are…

Three functions that might explain why analogies are effective reading aids are described. Six experiments using elementary, secondary, and college students are reported which address the use of analogies as reading aids. Performance improvement, reading time, effects of restrictive time conditions, and aptitude treatment interactions are…

Explores how children become oriented to literacy and how their perceptions of the purpose of print develop as they move toward becoming more fluent users of print. (DF)

Adapting teaching materials and strategies to the learning preferences of each child can make a difference in how well and how much students learn. Steps in introducing strategies based on learning styles into an elementary school are described, and recommendations are provided for initiating a learning styles program. (TE)

Argues that the second language acquisition process involves two models, providing complementary accounts of different components which could be combined. An integrated model is proposed that would carry the acquisition-learning distinction of the Monitor Model while including the Neurofunctional Theory, which uses the distinction to describe the…

Questions whether observed differences in use of strategy of monitoring is related to the following cognitive styles: field independence, reflection, flexible control, and preference for processing information by the written word. Field independence was positively related to amount of monitoring on all written tasks, and reflection was weakly but…

Eight steps of the skill training process and 10 rules of learning psychology are discussed as techniques for increasing training effectiveness. The eight steps are: include preevaluate, plan, prepare, present, perform, practice, evaluate performance, and follow up. The 10 rules concern motivation, use of the senses, receptivity, association,…

Reports on an experiment in which high school and college students were tested to ascertain: (1) to what extent students learning French as a foreign language treat sentences with negative elements as native French speakers do and (2) to what extent students perform similarly in French and English. Offers two suggestions for teaching French…

Discusses recent research in the development of spelling, the development of spelling ability, and invented spelling and the child's voice. (DF)

An inventory assessing teachers' attitudes concerning learning processes, priorities, and student-teacher relationships was administered. An oblique factor solution yielded four moderately independent dimensions of belief describing affective and cognitive values, directive teaching behavior, and subject matter relevancy. The significance of the…

The traditional undergraduate separation of general education, the major, and the electives does not reflect what happens in the student's learning, and lacks direction and clarity of purpose. Collaboration among generalists and specialists within and between the departments is needed to prepare students better.

Four competencies of superior teachers are seen as a basis for the ideal environment to nurture excellence. They are: a student-centered orientation, value for the learning process, a need to influence individual behavior, and a belief that they possess the power to produce a desired effect in the learner. (MLW)