Students were electronically polled about the influence of the Internet in their education and ways teachers could use this resource to motivate them and increase their learning. Responses from the 956 adolescents showed that the school quest to increase student engagement could more often be met through online assignments that facilitate…

There is evidence that students' epistemological beliefs impact on approaches to learning and consequent learning outcomes. Epistemological beliefs have been shown to influence students' approaches to study and problem-solving, motivation and persistence in information seeking. There are also some preliminary research findings that suggest the…

In an era where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and where information is readily accessible on the World Wide Web, educators should be capitalizing on these resources for gifted students. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to support individualized and independent learning within a network of peers that will provide challenging…

This study investigated the effects of students' reflections, combined with suggestive feedback, on the development of self-regulated learning and learning outcomes. Suggestive feedback alerts students that further reflection is advisable, without being very directive. Forty-nine students participated in a regular web-based distance education…

This article analyses the kinds of pedagogical approaches in universities that are provided for young and mature students and produce relevant outcomes for them in Germany, the UK and Japan. Andragogy is a concept of pedagogical approaches for adult learners in lifelong learning, but it should be empirically examined now in higher education in…

The usefulness and application of andragogical assumptions has long been debated by adult educators. The assumptions of andragogy are often criticized due to the lack of empirical evidence to support them, even though several educational theories are represented within the assumptions. In adult online education, these assumptions represent an…

This investigation was undertaken to investigate the threshold levels of literacy and language proficiency necessary for adult learners to use the Internet for independent learning. The report is triangulated around learning from large-scale surveys, learning from the literature, and learning from the field. Reported findings include: (1)…

Speech pathology students enrolled in a lecture-based gross human anatomy program completed two out of nine topics in self-directed mode. Student performance in quizzes was compared for the two modes, and the students completed questionnaires on their perceptions of the self-directed mode of delivery. Students performed as well in the first…

Designing school buildings to respond to change is not a new idea. But perhaps what is different today is the kind and degree of change which we have to anticipate. The OECD is carrying out projects that can help in the planning and design of future educational facilities--exploring trends in education and studying innovative learning…

This study is an investigation of the use of multimedia components such as visual text, spoken text, and graphics in a Web-based self-instruction program to increase learners' English vocabulary learning at Myungin Middle School in Seoul, South Korea. A total of 172 middle school students (14 years of age) in five classes participated in the…

Purpose: This paper evaluates whether the revalidated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) programme encourages independent learning by its curriculum design, delivery and assessment. Results: Evidence regarding the promotion of independent learning was gained from learners and external examiners. The scientific publications, presentations and posters…

The evidence indicates that peer-assisted learning can have a substantively important positive effect on struggling high school students' reading comprehension. Reservations remain about attributing improved comprehension to peer-assisted learning because the students were not randomly assigned to the intervention in the one study that met…

This article explores the use of discourse analysis and conversation analysis as an evaluation tool in problem-based learning. The basic principles of the methods are discussed and their application in analysing talk in problem-based learning considered. Findings suggest that these methods could enable an understanding of how effective…

This paper describes an exploratory, qualitative study of the motivational issues associated with project work--a method intended to help encourage independent learning skills. The population studied were United Kingdom secondary school students who attended a state-funded comprehensive school in Derbyshire. The study chose to explore why…

e-Learning is bringing training to the attention of upper management in a way that other learning technologies have never done. Web-based training will remain predominant to the design and delivery of workplace learning in the 21st century because of its advantages over traditional classroom-based training. A comprehensive framework that…