An understanding of the uses of metacognition provides a powerful tool toward developing quality and efficiency in task learning and performance. Specific thinking skill categories of attention, organization, and elaboration are described with examples of how specific techniques can optimize learning and job performance. (Author/JOW)

Comparison of 38 learning disabled and 38 normally achieving eighth graders on a vocabulary learning task indicated that the two groups did not differ in observable learning strategies used during the study period and that strategy use did not account for vocabulary learning score. (Author/DB)

Learning disabled students frequently have difficulty with spelling. A process that develops the student's thinking so that he is able to discover spelling rules for himself encourages him to remember and use them. Rules governing when to double final consonants or drop silent e's illustrate the process. (VW)

The Flavell (l981) model of cognitive monitoring and metamnemonic development was tested by four experiments conducted to determine whether preschool children (1) recognize that mood, fatigue, and fear are variables that influence learning; and (2) self-monitor their internal states and adjust their study behavior when they are sad or tired. (NH)

Reported are two studies which describe the early development in children of the ability to consider every one of an array of instances. Taken together with other recent studies, the data reveal early development in preschool children of a fundamental, general problem solving skill. (PCB)

Three experiments were designed to test the appropriateness of microcomputers as aids to learning and studying. The findings indicated that computer-based study procedures can be expected to enhance learning and recall. (Author/MT)

The effectiveness of a global learning strategy on the skill level attained in one closed primary motor task and two related ones was investigated. Eighty university students were randomly assigned to groups using either a content-dependent or content-independent strategy. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

This article reports on how elementary school teachers teach strategies to help pupils learn and remember. Tips for using the research findings in the classroom are offered. (MT)

The SCORER learning-strategies approach was used to teach 28 middle school students how to take tests. SCORER refers to Schedule, Clue, Omit, Read, Estimate, Review. Benefit of instruction was measured in terms of near and far generalization. Results are discussed and recommendations are made. (Author/MT)

The study examined 40 learning disabled fourth graders' spelling performance in response to strategy training and variations in study conditions. Students who were taught the five-step study strategy recalled correct spelling of more words than controls. However, spelling performance of students who received strategy training was not…

The article presents informal assessment techniques for assessing classroom demands, written language, studying and test-taking skills, notetaking, and gaining information from text. The content of the assessment is conceptualized in terms of the University of Kansas learning strategies curriculum. A test down approach to assessment is suggested.…

Argues that pupils' beliefs about what counts as historical explanation, usually the actions--and particularly the motives--of individuals, is an obstacle to their history learning. Superseding this personal level, and getting pupils to analyze a historical event as a whole, is where the mutual understanding between teacher and pupil collapses.…

The Academic Intervention Program in Urbana, Ohio began as an exploration into the nature of individual differences in students and how they learn. The metacognitive approach and systematic work on learning styles and strategies points to a promising future in integrating the brain and learning. (MT)

Describes two experiments that looked at: (1) how accurately, in a multiple-trial learning situation, individuals are able to predict their own performance on a trial-by-trial basis over the entire course of acquisition; and (2) what information a person uses to predict his or her own acquisition performance. (SED)

In two experiments, differences were investigated between 21 gifted youths and comparison groups on paired-associate tasks involving meaningful and nonmeaningful words, reported use of spontaneously produced learning strategies, and degree to which learning strategies facilitated recall. Gifted youths outperformed age peers in recall and strategy…