Recent educational research from a socio-cognitive perspective has validated students' collaborative engagement with new technologies and heightened understanding of influential factors shaping the effectiveness of peer interactions, learning contexts and computer interfaces for enhancing learning. This paper focuses on an analysis of the…

Introspection is a technique which can be used to explore memory. For this study, two questions were posed: (1) do students who better retain previously learned intellectual skills and propositions report a greater number of links between and within Gagne and White's four memory structures (networks of propositions, intellectual skills, images,…

The relationship between forward and backward digit span and basic cognitive processes was examined. Subjects were administered measures of sequential processing, simultaneous processing, and planning. Correlational analyses indicated the serial processing character of forward digit span, and the relationship between backward digit span and…

At grades 10 and 12 in high school, and in the universities, a science cognitive style was identified. Students with a high science orientation are characterized by high conceptual differentiation; high categorizing flexibility with objects; high preference for analytic-descriptive concepts; high originality; low preference for…

The operation of means-ends analysis (MEA) involves attempts at reducing differences between problem states and the goal state. It was paradoxically found that the more problem solvers knew of the goal state, the less they learned of the problem structure during the solution process. (PN)

Discusses the problems of the adult second language learner. The decline in interest among adolescents in language learning is reflected by the number of adult language learners. Problems ensue, however, from the unique classroom situation, which is not conducive to the development of communicative competence. (PJM)

An Australian study investigated the cognitive functioning profiles of 32 individuals with Fragile X compared to those of 8 children with Down syndrome. Individuals with Fragile X scored significantly lower on sequential processing measures than on simultaneous processing. This difference was not evident for the group with Down syndrome.…

A study with 179 Australian college students casts doubts on the usefulness of the theoretical model of human information processing postulated by S. Lehrl and B. Fischer (1990). Instead of reflecting properties of a limited capacity system, the Basic Unit of Information Processing (BIP) seems to be a marker for reading speed. (SLD)

Investigates the cultivation hypothesis by testing two cognitive processes hypothesized to allow viewers to construct television-biased beliefs. Finds the basic cultivation result replicated, but neither process hypothesis was supported. (SR)

Reports on two studies in which high school students were forced to process a text containing a geographical map. Shows that, in both studies, the effectiveness of directed, forced processing of texts and maps depends upon the level of processing encouraged and the ability of the students concerned. (CMK)

Presents a framework for differentiating between five levels of extension of knowledge: basic features, forms, rules, application, and elaboration. Comparison of the extent of knowledge use exhibited by (n=14) Year-11 Australian students on a range of plane geometry problems found that high-achieving students exhibited greater extension of…

This paper describes an exercise in determining the cognitive difficulty of the assessment tasks in six computing courses within an Information Technology (IT) degree, importing Bloom's taxonomy from the field of educational psychology as an analytical framework. Three of the six courses comprise a Programming stream and three a Data…

In his book entitled "Teaching Defiance: Stories and strategies for activist educators," this author asserted that, although his book was not a discussion of the Iraq war, it was concerned with the way the war has been "waged" in the countries of the three invaders: the USA, the UK and Australia. For him, the fact that each…

While the phenomenon of sexual fantasy has been researched extensively, little contemporary inquiry has investigated the structural properties of sexual fantasy within the context of sexual offending. In this study, a qualitative analysis was used to develop a descriptive model of the phenomena of sexual fantasy during the offence process.…

This work presents a unique education resource for both process engineering students and the industry workforce. The learning environment is based around spherical imagery of real operating plants coupled with interactive embedded activities and content. This Virtual Reality (VR) learning tool has been developed by applying aspects of relevant…