Explores the use of concept mapping as a college teaching technique, drawing on research on conceptual knowledge, concept formation, and classroom applications and variations. Specific activities for concept mapping and modeling are offered, and the nature of the teacher's and student's role is discussed. (MSE)

Assesses the utility and effectiveness of three interactive computer programs and associated print materials in instructing and modeling for undergraduates how to comprehend and reconceptualize scientific textbook material. Finds that "how to" reading strategies can be taught via computer and transferred to new material. (RS)

This study of 72 undergraduates examined whether theories of learning from text may be extended to hypertext and the effectiveness of hypertext on learning. Participants worked with either a highly structured, unstructured, or linear hypertext system. Results indicated that less structured systems promoted more active processing and a deeper level…

Describes the use of concept mapping in teaching complex notions in urban geography. Discusses the nature and characteristics of concept mapping, course context, three experimental exercises, and student responses in evaluations. Finds that concept-mapping techniques increased students' understanding. Emphasizes the continuing potential of this…

New information and communications technologies and research in cognitive science have led to new ways to think about and implement learning environments. Among these new approaches to instruction and new methods to support learning and performance is an interest in and emphasis on complex subject matter (e.g., complex and dynamic systems…

The move from traditional paper-based distance education subject materials to those of information and communication technologies (ICT) has increased the ways in which students can engage with their lecturers, peers and the unit materials. In this paper, strategies for enhancing print-based learning resources are discussed. These include concept…

This study examined the instructional effect of varied graphic mapping strategies (spider maps, frame maps, and semantic maps) in facilitating college-student achievement of different types of educational objectives, and the significance of the amount of time students have to process the information presented in the varied mapping strategies.…

Writers often must summarize others' texts as part of their own work. To succeed at this, they must first read and understand new information and then transform that information to fulfill a specific purpose. Concept mapping, used as a visual organizing technique, can be an effective link between the two processes. In a preliminary study, students…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of scientific discussions based on student-constructed pre- and post-laboratory concept maps on students' attitudes toward chemistry laboratory in the university general chemistry. As part of instruction, during the first four laboratory sessions, students were taught how to construct and…

Study compared pedagogical knowledge structures about effective teaching of preservice teachers and teacher educators. Groups of preservice teachers completed concept maps about effective teaching at two different times. Data were compared with teacher educators' concept maps. Differences between the groups of preservice teachers and between…

This paper examines the conceptualization and design of the Pennsylvania Audiographics Distance Education Project's (PADEP) Life Skills and Drug Education Course, and discusses the successes and difficulties of the project based on results from formative evaluation. Educators from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, developed new courses that could be…

Interactive computer programs, developed at Indiana University's Learning Skills Center, were designed to model effective strategies for reading biology and psychology textbooks. For each subject area, computer programs and textbook passages were used to instruct and model for students how to identify key concepts, compare and contrast concepts,…

As the number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners with disabilities increases in the United States, many educators and policymakers purport that teacher education programs (TEPs) must incorporate multicultural education more substantively. However, we know very little about the impact of multicultural education on the thinking…

An inservice program to teach instructional strategies that promote metacognitive development to classroom teachers in their roles as instructional designers, based on the notion that instruction in metacognitive strategies must be incorporated into content instruction, is described. Teachers were informed about the following specific…

A new problem-based course in molecular biology, genetics, and cancer for first-year veterinary students was developed at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University (New York). The course was developed out of a desire to foster student-centered and lifelong learning and to integrate basic and clinical science knowledge despite a lack…