The 12 activity-oriented units described in this study skills guide are designed to help students in grades 11 through 13 become more skillful at learning on their own. The guide addresses a wide range of student needs, allows for the participation of students with a diversity of skills, and promotes learning on various levels of competence. The…

Over 800 studies suggest that students who learn via cooperative learning groups--as compared to competitive or individualistic learning--(1) achieve more; (2) are more positive about school, subject areas, and teachers; (3) are more positive about each other, regardless of ability or ethnic background, handicapped or not; and (4) are more…

The Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--investigated the questions and explanations primary children have about spiders. The data comprise 112 questions and 104 explanations (included in appendices) offered by children after being shown a picture of a spider. Additional data were collected during individual interviews with 18 students.…

The Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--investigated the ideas and interests about spiders held by 8- to 10-year-old children. Data included 303 questions--and answers to some of the questions--about spiders obtained from children in four classes and from responses obtained during individual interviews with 10 children from each age…

This experiment explored how incorporating the importance of task strategy use and positive achievement beliefs into cognitive modeling affected self-efficacy and skill acquisition. Students deficient in division skills received cognitive modeling of division solution strategies and practice opportunities. For one group of students the cognitive…

Twenty-four beginning readers participated in a study of the effectiveness of cued learning. The study was carried out in two phases--a letter-learning phase and a word-learning phase. The children were taught one at a time by the same teacher over a four-year period. During the word-learning phase, one fourth of the children used a vowels-only…

To determine whether college students trained in the independent study strategy PORPE ("Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice, Evaluate"), could perform as well as other students trained to create and rehearse their own textually explicit and implicit test questions, a study compared performances on immediate and delayed multiple choice…

This study explores a relatively new area of computer research, i.e., utilization of computer-generated feedback based upon the knowledge gained in both written and computer-based instruction. One hundred and twenty-six freshmen and sophomore college students from a variety of academic majors volunteered for this study. The instructional materials…

Secondary school geometry students have been found to have misconceptions concerning parallel lines. Correctional teaching programs did not seem effective in changing these misconceptions. This research describes an attempt to use teaching strategies which take into account current learning theory and which encourages students to be actively…

Learning style is the way people concentrate on, internalize, and remember new and difficult knowledge or skills. It is composed of cognitive, motivational, and physiological elements that affect each person's ability to perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment. Extensive research documents the hypothesis that when students…

Modeling the processes of effective teaching through cooperative learning, creating a community of learners, and other interactive teaching strategies are discussed. As teacher education students become involved in their own reading and writing, they take ownership of their own learning and begin to feel a part of a larger community of learners.…

Adult literacy programs could be improved by determining the learning styles and life-styles of individual students and incorporating the findings into the instructional program. Many researchers have looked at adult students' lives and suggested teaching methods based on the studies. Some suggest using an instrument for identifying adults'…

Acknowledging a recent increased interest in research about self-directed learning, this report analyzes and discusses two different forms of education: self-directed learning and distance education. Here, self-directed learning is identical with autodidactic learning, a form of education that cannot be included in organized adult education; the…

This paper outlines the components of initial cognitive skill acquisition and analyses features of elaborations in the instructional materials that can facilitate each component. Three basic components of skill learning are identified: (1) learning novel concepts and the functionality of novel concepts and procedures; (2) learning how to execute…

Concerned with the writing and designing of computer manuals that enable users to remember the information presented within them, this study addresses two key questions: (1) whether people remember material longer if they are tested on it immediately after they learn it; and (2) what material they remember (and forget) after a week or month…