The kind of semantic information that facilitates relearning was investigated. The paradigm consisted of three stages: (1) learn a list of number-word pairs; (2) return for a retention test; and (3) relearn a new list of pairs that have various kinds of semantic relatedness to the originally learned pairs. (Author/CTM)

Describes the use of past educational experiences and resulting attitudes to illustrate effective teaching methods to students in social studies methods courses. Positive memories center around a hands-on approach, whereas negative memories focused on memorization and rote learning. (LS)

Myth is integral to modern as well as ancient societies in its service to multiple interrelated social functions. Among these are to explain phenomena and direct action, to justify particular interests or practices, to dramatize ideals, and to provide cultural cohesion. Three prevailing myths that are especially problematic are the myths of…

Using both end-of-course achievement outcomes and long-term cognitive retention as criteria, this study provides comparative data on the effectiveness of mastery and nonmastery approaches to instruction. Results indicate that mastery students performed significantly higher on several levels, and equally well on others. (Author)

A description of the geography curriculum at the University of Bucharest, Rumania. Educational program is controlled by the Communist Party. The approach is practical and emphasizes factual learning. It is highly ideological and strongly atheistic. Course work is structured and there are no student options or electives. (Author/BC)

The relationships of spelling achievement to rote learning, rule learning, and self-evaluated spelling ability were investigated. A questionnaire, a structure task which produced a measure of rote learning and rule learning, and the Wide Range Achievement Test (Spelling) were administered to 50 college students. (Author/PN)

Emerging research evidence of an approach to learning that combines memorization and comprehension, particularly from Asia, is examined and possible explanations for it are discussed. It is proposed that this approach may explain the apparent paradox of high achievement is Asian cultures, where rote learning in stressed. (Author/MSE)

This paper outlines several "tricks" that aid students in improving their memories. The distinctions between operational and figural thought processes are noted. Operational memory is described as something that allows adults to make generalizations about numbers and the rules by which they may be combined, thus leading to easier memorization.…

In this report, the theoretical background and procedures for a study of concept learning are discussed. Several definitions of the term "concept" are analyzed, and the relations among concepts, chains of concepts, and hierarchies of concepts are explored. Conceptual learning is discussed from several points of view, and axiom systems for the…

In this volume, the results of a study of concept learning are presented. (The background for the study, and descriptions of the treatments--rote reception, rote discovery, conceptual reception, and conceptual discovery--are provided in Part 1.) Several hypotheses concerning the effectiveness of these treatments in learning concepts and on the…

Argues that more attention should be given to teaching students how to learn the rudiments of specific metabolic pathways. This approach describes a unique way of learning the glycolytic pathway in stepwise fashion. The pedagogy involves clear rote components that are connected to a set of generalizations that develop and enhance important…

This paper describes an experimental course in which the author taught students to improve their learning skills. It is a first step toward constructing a systematic body of knowledge about learning strategies. The course covered four topics, chosen because they were complex enough to require several weeks to make progress, but simple enough that…

Assessing the effect of memory improvement strategies upon long-term forgetting, two studies investigated the influence of popular mnemonic devices (the keyword method and the "method of loci") upon forgetting relative to rote rehearsal. The first study (79 subjects) compared the forgetting of French vocabulary words learned either by…

Undergraduates enrolled in a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) (Keller Plan) section of Principles of Educational Psychology at Mississippi State University were subjects in a study of the effects of no review (NR), review questions (RQ), and review concepts (RC), on short-term retention in a PSI class. The NR group received no review. The…

People sometimes forget a name or a word, and are plagued by the feeling that the sought-for word is somewhere in memory but not immediately available. The frequent description of this tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon as subthreshold memory traces is challenged by data showing that TOT genesis and TOT recovery are distinct processes. In a verbal…