The refinement of the cognitive knowledge base was studied through exploration of the transition from novice to expert and the use of an instructional strategy called novice knowledge engineering. Six college freshmen, who were enrolled in an honors physics course, used an expert system to create questions, decisions, rules, and explanations…

A study of the difference between knowledge and use of two languages by bilinguals in a partially bilingual situation looks at what is known about language knowledge and language usage, the linguistic and communication tensions affecting monolinguals in a community, some special cases, and the possibilities for diachronic analysis of language…

Contradictory previous research results showing that (1) language knowledge does not decrease with age; and (2) age differences exist in semantic strategies for memory recall provide the impetus for a study of semantic priming in young adults (mean age = 20) and older adults (mean age = 70) by providing target and prime words with six different…

Knowledge about college costs was studied with a sample of parents and their teenage children. The sample included high school sophomores and seniors who completed the 1980 High School and Beyond survey. Responses to a mail survey were obtained from a national sample of 6,564 parents. Overall, data from parents and students suggest that parents…

Past research and educational efforts in gerontological nursing have revealed that nursing care of the older person has received a low priority by practicing nurses and nursing students. To measure registered nurses' changes in knowledge about aging, nine registered nurses (mean age, 30.7 years, mean number of years nursing experience, 6.9)…

A study attempting to disclose dilemmas encountered by university professors as a means of better understanding their inner world is discussed. The nature of these dilemmas is investigated via the thinking aloud technique. Twelve subjects were asked to think aloud about dilemmas they encountered in their work, and the flow of thoughts was…

A survey attempted to gather baseline data from 69 rehabilitation counselors in the state of Mississippi on rehabilitation concerns with clients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Among survey results were: counselors ranked the psychological domain as the most problematical with the educational domain ranked as least problematical;…

The possibility of developing a learning theory that is designed to insure its relevance to educational problems is discussed. It is suggested that the constitutive problem for an educational psychology of learning is how one learns things that are difficult to learn. Behaviorist learning theories fail almost entirely to explain why anything is…

To determine college students' level of geographic awareness, a test was administered to 2,200 students (both freshmen and upperclassmen) in eight colleges and universities in North Carolina. The test, which required students to complete statements about geography, was patterned after a geography examination sponsored by the New York Times in 1950…

This paper analyzes the economic knowledge of high school students based on national data from 8,000 students who took the revised "Test of Economic Literacy," a nationally normed and standardized achievement test in economics. First, the validity and reliability features of the test are presented and then the test scores are broken down…

In a study investigating the nature of questioning, a group of subjects with little relevant knowledge and a group with a great deal of relevant knowledge were asked to prepare a chocolate mousse. During the preparation, the subjects were allowed to ask any number of questions and each was answered immediately. Results showed that the number of…

To examine the importance of being literate in the technology of telecommunication, the attitudes of three populations were studied: college students, academics, and industry professionals. Altogether 266 names and addresses were compiled. Using a quota strategy, industry professionals were drawn from several segments of the telecommunication…

A series of experiments investigated the role of prior knowledge in tasks involving the operation of equipment from written instructions. The experiments covered two situations. In the first, the prior knowledge was already possessed by the subjects before the experiments. The studies involved comprehension and memory of technical prose, expertise…

Identifying the variables which influence student attitudes, perceptions, and behavior patterns in regard to religion, sex, and alcohol has been a major source of investigation. To determine the dimensions underlying the relationship among religion, sex, alcohol use, and alcohol knowledge among university students, 376 University of Maryland…

Based on a preliminary version of this study, project aims were to learn what college freshmen knew about presidents in office from the late 19th century to the present and to determine the students' writing levels. During the first class of each of five semesters, students enrolled in an American History Since 1985 course were asked to write one…