The study reported here explores whether English as a foreign Language (EFL) learners' preferred ways of learning (i.e., learning styles) affect their task performance in computer-mediated communication (CMC). As Ellis (2010) points out, while the increasing use of different sorts of technology is witnessed in language learning contexts, it is…

This study examined 39 Taiwanese adult EFL learners' responses to reading children's literature in a non-major freshman English class. Exposed to authentic illustrated storybooks along with a variety of literacy practices, the students' end-of-the-semester feedback has shown that they generally enjoyed the books and felt they had made progress in…

Language may ordinarily account for difficulties in solving word problems and this is particularly true if mathematical word problems are taught in a language other than one's native language. Research into cognitive load may offer a clear theoretical framework when investigating word problems because memory, specifically working memory, plays a…

Three types of effects sizes for DIF are described in this exposition: log of the odds-ratio (differences in log-odds), differences in probability-correct, and proportion of variance accounted for. Using these indices involves conceptualizing the degree of DIF in different ways. This integrative review discusses how these measures are impacted in…

In reaction time research, there has been an increasing appreciation that response-initiation processes are sensitive to recent experience and, in particular, the difficulty of previous trials. From this perspective, the authors propose an explanation for a perplexing property of masked priming: Although primes are not consciously identified,…

Previous research on feedback frequency suggests that more frequent feedback improves learning and task performance (Salmoni, Schmidt, & Walter, 1984). Drawing from resource allocation theory (Kanfer & Ackerman, 1989), we challenge the "more is better" assumption and propose that frequent feedback can overwhelm an individual's cognitive resource…

Most of the tests and inventories used by counseling psychologists have been developed using CTT; IRT derives from what is called latent trait theory. A number of important differences exist between CTT- versus IRT-based approaches to both test development and evaluation, as well as the process of scoring the response profiles of individual…

Undergraduate research provides multiple educational advantages, and Hispanic students may reap particular benefits. The "embedded researcher" method avoids difficulties inherent in traditional apprenticeship models, providing meaningful research experience to multiple students within a standard didactic course structure while yielding…

We used a set of action verbs based on Bloom's taxonomy to assess learning outcomes in two college-level introductory psychology courses. The action verbs represented an acronym, IDEA, comprising skills relating to identifying, defining or describing, evaluating or explaining, and applying psychological knowledge. Exam performance demonstrated…

The recently released Common Core State Standards increase classroom emphasis on informational texts in high school and recommend a three-part measurement for text complexity when selecting texts for classroom use. In this commentary I argue that fictional narratives can not only meet these stated criteria for complex texts and result in critical…

This article moves beyond the common core and leveled literacy instruction to demonstrate how diverse learners in one fourth grade classroom, challenged teacher authority in an effort to position themselves as capable readers. In doing so, they implored the teachers to consider the social context of reading as an essential component to the ways in…

An eye tracking study investigated the effects of local and global discourse context on the processing of subject and object relative clauses, whereby the contexts favored either a subject relative clause interpretation or an object relative clause interpretation. The fixation data replicated previous studies showing that object relative clause…

The scope of this paper is to present the development of a web-based evaluation system that adjusts to the level of knowledge of each student. The underlying concept is to split the questions into pools (bins) of distinct difficulty at the same time assigning a different level of accuracy to each possible answer that the student may select. Given…

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent students' explanations of their knowledge of learning processes. The explanations of 11th-grade high-school and first-year university students were qualitatively analysed to examine the kinds of explanations that were made regarding knowledge of cognitive knowledge ("n"?=?25), knowledge…

The Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS) was developed to assess individual differences in the ability to mentalize attachment relationships. The RFS assesses mentalization from transcripts of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). A global score is given by trained coders on an 11-point scale ranging from antireflective to exceptionally reflective.…