The purpose of reading is for the reader to construct meaning from the text. For many young adults with Down syndrome, knowing what the text is all about is difficult, and so for them the activity of reading becomes simply the practice of word calling. It is suggested in the literature that for those individuals with Down syndrome, learning can…

Remarkably few studies have examined the outcomes of sign language interpreting. Three experiments reported here examine deaf students' comprehension of interpreting in American Sign Language and English-based signing (transliteration) as a function of their sign language skills and preferences. In Experiments 1 and 2, groups of deaf students…

This article discusses the substantial changes in the system of adult education in Russia, in connection with a qualitative transformation of ideas about the possibility and necessity to learn new professions. The transition to the market economy has brought about a situation in which many people, both those who have obtained a professional…

In a specialist further education college, it was recognised that students aged 16/17 transferring to vocational study after their compulsory schooling were refusing to take up their entitlement to additional learning support. This created a shortfall in the college's predicted units of funding; also, course managers reported that several of these…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether relations existed between sixth, seventh, and eighth grade learners' and their teachers' efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies and whether student perceived efficacy beliefs were predictors of reading comprehension achievement as measured by a reading comprehension subtest score on a state…

This study compared the use of an animated pedagogical agent (agent) with an electronic arrow and voice narration (arrow and voice) in a multimedia learning environment where 74 college level English as a Second Language (ESL) students learned English relative clauses. No significant differences in learning or performance were found between the…

This paper analyses some changing aspects of learning and "cultures of learning" in China: these are related to meeting the needs of Chinese learners studying in higher education in the UK. We use the term "cultures of learning" to draw attention to the socio-cultural aspects of key practices, expectations and interpretations…

Why do so few students continue to participate in choral music through high school? How do home influences, peers, prior music experiences and teachers, self-perceptions of ability, and musical experiences outside of school contribute to decisions concerning participation in school music? This study attempted to identify some of the factors and…

Grade-5 teachers, who were nominated by their supervisors as effective in educating their students to be readers and writers, responded to questionnaires about their practice. The 33 teachers claimed commitments to: (1) extensive reading at the heart of their reading instruction; (2) diverse instructional activities (e.g., whole-group instruction,…

This course is designed to assist adults in documenting their prior experience, gaining an understanding of the policy and practices of recognition of prior learning (RPL), and then applying for RPL in either further education or employment. The 30-hour course is designed to be delivered over a series of weeks to allow time for students to reflect…

Two experiments examined developmental trends in children's lexical decisions for abstract and concrete words. The first experiment examined children's on-line comprehension of abstract and concrete words. Subjects were 15 second or third graders and 15 college adults at the University of Georgia. The second experiment provided a stronger test of…

The two purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the extent to which previous knowledge, on-going motivation and current social support influence performance in a college introductory statistics courses; and (2) to identify the thought processes used in statistics learning by students who preform well and perform well and poorly,…

This paper outlines the characteristics of validating and invalidating models of classroom instruction, the characteristics of good teachers, and assessment methods that support validating, therapeutic learning. The academically validating model suggests that: (1) students bring a rich reservoir of experience to the classroom; (2) the past is a…

This paper presents the results of a study designed to determine the computer anxiety, attitudes, and confidence levels of students enrolling in preservice teacher education computing courses. Specific questions compared these students with national norms, and looked to see whether sex, age, or past computer experiences had any effect on measures…

The role of prior knowledge in skill acquisition is to enable the learner to detect and to correct errors. Computational mechanisms that carry out these two functions are implemented in a simulation model which represents prior knowledge in "constraints". The model learns symbolic skills in mathematics and science by noticing and…