Describes a study that conducted interviews with 27 linguistic minority parents (i.e., parents of students for whom English is not their first language) to investigate their general understanding and use of public libraries. Reasons for nonuse of libraries are discussed, including a lack of knowledge about libraries, no prior experience, and…

Addresses the notion of story as a framework to help organize teachers' personal understandings of their craft, first describing one teacher educator's experiences with handling preconceptions in learning to teach and with using well-remembered events as a bridge between personal understandings and the world of classrooms and educational…

Studied influence of intelligence, metacognitive attributions, and knowledge base coherence in the regulation of the category-sorting strategy in first and second graders. Knowledge base was a powerful predictor of strategic-looking behavior; metacognitive attribution was most influential in low knowledge base conditions; and intelligence had…

Analyzes prior knowledge based on the idea of knowledge structure; the relevance of using knowledge profiles is important in independent, distance learning. Suggests that prior knowledge can be helpful to enhance a student's learning process, to design more flexible learning environments, and to provide institutional support. (Author/AEF)

Coordinates anthropological and cognitive perspectives on one child's learning of the standard addition algorithm in second and third grade. Analysis showed that the student abandoned his self-generated computational algorithms in favor of less understood conventional procedures. (25 references) (Author/MKR)

Describes a study of computer experiences and attitudes as well as computer and math anxiety among MBA students. Previous research is reviewed; gender differences are examined; correlations between specific computer experiences and attitudes are considered; and the relationships of experiences and attitudes with grades are discussed. (Contains 52…

Presents a framework for organizing research and theory in the areas of psychology, pedagogy, and technology as they relate to interactive multimedia; and derives principles and implications for the design of interactive multimedia. Highlights include prior knowledge, the organization and utilization of knowledge, feedback, concept maps, and…

Responds to an earlier article that discussed school restructuring as it related to a book by this author. Topics addressed include hyperlearning; virtual reality; experience as separate from technology; and just-in-time learning. (LRW)

Discusses three significant developments in comprehension theory (integration of information, prior knowledge, and prose organization) together with how certain innovative testing strategies can be used to match theory with format. Finds that six of the tests commonly used by special educators assess either a single dimension of reading…

Interviewed 49 Scottish preschoolers about their understanding of literacy and numeracy. Found that children of this age group often held erroneous or conflicting beliefs about their ability to read or count. Subjects indicated some understanding of the generalities of story reading and counting before they could actually perform either activity.…

Examined the effect of mothers' familiarity with a formal operations task on performance and monitoring of a cognitive task with their children and on the child's later performance alone. The task-familiar mothers elicted higher level strategies during problem solving and allowed their children to participate more than did the other mothers; their…

Describes study that tested the validity of the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS) with MBA students. Demographic traits and cognitive styles are considered, the effect of computer courses on computer anxiety is studied, and factor analysis is used to assess the construct validity of the CARS. (24 references) (LRW)

The influx of veterans into higher education after World War II led to the development of a monumental system for testing and evaluation of prior learning through military service. The assumptions of the process continue to have implications for the assessment of adult life experience and its integration in college curricula. (SK)

Discusses the importance prior knowledge plays in learning in the content areas. Discusses previewing pictures as a prereading activity and presents a picture analysis activity which can be used to activate prior knowledge to use as a foundation for good bridge building. (MG)

This paper describes computer-aided cognitive rehabilitation for mentally deficient persons. It lists motor, cognitive, emotional, and educational prerequisites to such rehabilitation and states advantages and disadvantages in using the prerequisites. (JDD)