The purpose of this study was to document the design and development of an adaptive system which individualizes instruction such as content, interfaces, instructional strategies, and resources dependent on two factors, namely student motivation and prior knowledge levels. Combining adaptive hypermedia methods with strategies proposed by…

This study investigated the effectiveness of Adventure Based Counseling upon high school adolescents. The goals of this study were to (a) explore the effectiveness of ABC Counseling in increasing levels of self-esteem and empathy among adolescents; (b) study the efficacy of ABC counseling in reducing perceived racial discrimination, racist…

In the wake of several high-profile shootings at schools in the United States, most notably the shootings that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, the United States Secret Service (Secret Service) and the United States Department of Education (ED) embarked on a collaborative endeavor to study incidents of planned (or…

We examine the argument that teaching will be more effective if adapted to individuals--what we call the interaction/adaptation hypothesis. What is likely correct about this hypothesis (but needs more research) is that modality of instruction may need to be adapted to certain types of content (e.g., geometry vs. literature) or to domain of…

The inclusion of popular music as a content area in music education is not uncommon. The musicological study of popular music is well established in higher education, and even the practice of popular music is becoming more common in both secondary education and the post-compulsory sector. However, when this occurs, it is likely to be taught in…

This article develops the concept-mapping method as a tool for enhancing teaching quality in higher education. In particular, it describes how concept mapping can be used to transform abstract knowledge and understanding into concrete visual representations that are amenable to comparison and measurement. The article describes four important uses…

Faced with highly complex and ambiguous visual input, human observers must rely on prior knowledge and assumptions to efficiently determine the structure of their surroundings. One of these assumptions is the "light-from-above" prior. In the absence of explicit light-source information, the visual system assumes that the light-source is roughly…

The coherence principle states that all non-essential information in multimedia messages should be eliminated to minimise demands on cognitive resources. This assertion has been empirically verified in controlled laboratory studies with learners who have little prior knowledge and limited interest in the domain of instruction. It has not been…

In this study we investigated junior high school students' processes of argumentation and cognitive development in science and socioscientific lessons. Detailed studies of the relationship between argumentation and the development of scientific knowledge are rare. Using video and audio documents of small group and classroom discussions, the…

Given a 5-peg by 5-peg geoboard, how many different lengths can be made by stretching a rubber band to form an oblique segment between any two pegs? This investigation requires students to make connections to the Pythagorean theorem, congruence, and combinations. With its use of visual representation and a range of mathematical ideas that can be…

The study aims to characterize contextual learning during class visits to science and natural history museums. Based on previous studies, we assumed that "outdoor" learning is different from classroom-based learning, and free choice learning in the museums enhances the expression of learning in personal context. We studied about 750 students…

The authors present a Bayesian framework for understanding how adults and children learn the meanings of words. The theory explains how learners can generalize meaningfully from just one or a few positive examples of a novel word's referents, by making rational inductive inferences that integrate prior knowledge about plausible word meanings with…

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of instructional materials for the subject of classification of matter as solids, liquids and gases that were developed using a holistic instructional design model on student achievement. In the study a pre-test/post-test with control group experimental design was used. The study was conducted in the…

This paper explores pre-service teachers' perceptions of subject knowledge as they learn to teach during a one-year postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) programme in England. The article examines the impact of pre-service teachers' previous experiences and individual subject knowledge profiles on their development during their PGCE course.…

Experiential education, which takes students into the community, helps students both to bridge classroom study and life in the world and to transform inert knowledge into knowledge-in-use. It rests on theories of experiential learning, a process whereby the learner interacts with the world and integrates new learning into old constructs.…