Although research over the past 20 years has examined the dynamics of student learning, most initial studies focused on how scholastic aptitude tests and teacher rating scales predicted academic success. This study attempts to determine the relationship between scholastic aptitude and three approaches to learning: (1) presage; (2) process; and (3)…

Focusing on how teachers can devise instructional routines to help students learn to learn, this paper discusses mechanisms for training students to devise their own strategies for learning. Because of the dominance of deliberate memory strategies in training research, the paper begins with a brief consideration of such literature, then proceeds…

The Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) program uses microcomputers to help high risk students master basic thinking processes, grasp course content, and apply learned information in various problem-solving situations. Specifically, HOTS aids students with metacognition, inference from context, and generalization skills. It also improves…

Comparison of the attitudes of Japanese and American high school students toward rote learning and more "creative" learning and their performance on rote learning tasks revealed that Japanese students viewed rote learning more positively than Americans and performed significantly better on rote-based second-language word recall and…

Two content-independent learning strategies were evaluated to determine their effectiveness in facilitating learning on two types of information-processing tasks, spatial learning and concept learning. The network strategy used imagery with a peg-mnemonic and a hierarchical retrieval system, while the rote strategy elicited a stimulus-response…

First-year higher education students' approaches to learning navigation were assessed. The research used a structured questionnaire to assess deep, surface, and strategic approaches to learning. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of 13 sub-scales revealed that students learning navigation employed two main approaches, a deep-strategic approach…

Three learning modules are described and investigated as they reflect different students' conceptions of and approaches to learning. The Schoolwork Module (SWM) focuses on task performance and involves a passive, incremental, piecemeal, and rote memory method of learning, parallel to what might be implied by the Information Processing model of…

Explores the relationship between teenagers' working memory and school achievement. Experiments revealed significant correlations between the two, specifically in the field of foreign language. Includes descriptions of the experiments with accompanying statistical tables. (MJP)

This study examines the relationship between test-wiseness, memory, and grade-point average in college students. Test wiseness is defined as a subject's capacity to utilize the characteristics and format of a test to receive a higher score, independent of the examinee's knowledge of the subject matter. Researchers hypothesized that test-wiseness…

Intended for teachers and parents, this book focuses on demolishing widely held myths about poor spellers and about the process of spelling. "Dear Professor Henderson" (chapter 1) is a dedication to a favorite college professor who remonstrated with the author about his "lazy" spelling. "Kneeling on Rice" (chapter 2)…

The focus was on the study methods of nurse students during their first 2 years in higher education. Qualitative data were obtained by interviewing a sample of the first year students, plus a sample of second year students in two nursing specialities. The essay was found to be the most difficult format, particularly for those coming straight from…

Assessed first and third graders' and undergraduates' knowledge of strategies appropriate to comprehension and memory. Also assessed their knowledge of task variables affecting comprehension and memorization tasks. Only undergraduates showed understanding of comprehension-memory distinction. Third graders showed some understanding of differential…

Primary school learners' first encounters with mathematics in a traditional learning environment often create lifelong "math phobia."(Papert 1980) The situation in a country emerging from an oppressive education system designed to educationally disempower the majority of the population is much worse. The typical scenario in a previously…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of learners of Japanese as a second language from non-kanji backgrounds and the special difficulties they encounter in trying to learn the kanji writing system. It is asserted that most teachers of Japanese as a second language do not spend enough time on kanji teaching, with the students typically forced to…

Proposes that although the past 30 years have seen increasing efforts to make mathematics more relevant and useful, schools continue to fail. Argues that forced rote learning is the direct cause of this failure and that improved teaching methods must be developed. Urges that shifts in methodology be phased in gradually. (TW)