This study investigated the effectiveness of massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)-based (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) instruction in elementary English education. The effectiveness of the MMORPG program was compared with face-to-face instruction and the independent variables (gender, prior knowledge, motivation…

In Uganda, curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS has largely depended on public and private media messages about the disease. Media campaigns based on Uganda's cultural norms of communication are metaphorical, analogical and simile-like. The topic of HIV/AIDS has been introduced into the Senior Three (Grade 11) biology curriculum in Uganda. To what…

Since the 1980s there has been significant growth in the engagement of higher education with workforce development, with among other things the emergence of a distinct if varied area of provision commonly referred to as work-based learning. Recent examination of practice and literature indicates a growing sophistication in the way that work-based…

This paper reports on an interpretive study of block play in a class of 16 kindergartners. Over the course of a school year 16 hours of videotape of the children's block play was recorded and analyzed. A typology of block play with four domains of block construction, social interaction, negotiation, and scheme development is explained and…

An analysis of the learning process that focuses on the role of elaboration and students' prior knowledge is presented. Learning from instruction is distinguished from learning and instruction, and a series of learning functions are identified. (TJH)

Analyzes the role of students' prior knowledge in their emerging understanding of the mole. The research question this study seeks to answer is what knowledge, if any, do student have regarding the mole and what prior knowledge do they access when presented problems regarding the nature of the mole. Data collection focuses on student knowledge…

Seven- and ten-year-olds listened to taped stories. In one version, familiar television characters were described as having attributes incongruous with those the children knew from television. Three weeks later, children's recall of the stories indicated considerable shifts in memory toward their preexperimental knowledge of the TV characters.…

Discusses information overload and examines several ways in which actual and potential overload affects research choices for the solo researcher in interdisciplinary areas. Topics include information overload and teamwork; entry barriers to certain specialties, including necessary background knowledge; and information utilization and knowledge…

Five experiments investigated children's understanding that expectations based on prior experience may influence a person's interpretation of ambiguous visual information. Results suggest that understanding of interpretation begins at approximately six years of age. (HTH)

Addresses the problem of finding a quick, easy, and effective way to teach necessary background knowledge for new topics so teachers can build the specific schema children will need to comprehend the text they read. Describes a mural lesson as an organized way for teachers to talk about and use pictures to provide students with information that…

Examined influence of newly acquired information on 5- to 7-year-olds' memory and general representation of a personally experienced novel event. Found that advance information specific to the event led to better recall and better integration of the experience into a general event representation both soon after the event and 4 months later.…

Examines the assumption that recognition of prior learning (RPL) is an undemanding way of receiving credit in higher education, and identifies the demands of a portfolio development approach in RPL. (EV)

Examines the ability of children to evaluate their comprehension of text using lexical, external, and internal consistency standards. Finds that children more often use lexical and external consistency than internal consistency and that the results of verbal report measures are inconsistent with performance measures. (RS)

Reviews literature on the transformational nature of creativity, in which the individual, during and after interacting with his or her environment, takes information provided by the culture and transforms it based on previous experience. Notes that young children can develop transformational ability through dramatic play in which they are involved…

Introduces the time window, a construct that characterizes when and how the integration of knowledge occurs, which is fundamental to the development of cognition. Describes the characteristics of time windows, evidence supporting them, factors that affect them, research illustrating their generality, and theoretical and applied implications. (ET)