Students begin their college studies with a set of epistemological beliefs about what they think knowledge is and how they think it is learned; for most students, the experience of college alters these beliefs in fundamental, transformative ways. This study explores the relation between epistemological beliefs, motivation, and cognition in two…

The first of three articles on the ways in which people formulate their observations, this paper considers the basic assumptions of both syntactic and paradigmatic models of cognition and their applications in natural (i.e., human) and artificial (i.e., computer) information processing. The analysis begins with background information on the nature…

A theory of learning based on recent insights from sociology and semiotics is explicated. Building on the work of Vygotsky, Dewey, Halliday, Barnes, Deely, Eisner, and others, this sociosemiotic model of learning is used as a frame of reference for thinking about the process by which texts are created from sensation. It is argued that the process…

This is the final report for a study whose original purpose was to develop a general theory of the situational constraints imposed by the routines of everyday life on arithmetic skills. Section 1 reviews the goals laid out in the proposal in relation to what was accomplished. Section 2 is the draft of "Everyday Cognition: Its Development in…

This paper focuses on aspects of a process of learning (participation) that emerged in a study of crosscultural experiences. As a phenomenological work, this study brings attention to the possibility that how adults learn in everyday life may actually be a process of experiencing the difference between what is familiar and known, and that which is…

Briefly explores the philosophical underpinnings and point of view of several instructional theories/positions (behavioral, cognitive information processing, cognitive inquiry, and humanism) by examining goals, instructional procedures and strategies, and assessment and evaluation methods. A way to maximize the strengths of these theories for…

Interest in mathematics learning that focuses on understanding, mathematical reasoning, and meaning-making underscores the need to develop ways of analyzing classrooms that foster certain types of learning. The goal of this paper is to show that the constructs of social and sociomathematical norms, which grew out of taking a symbolic…

Examines the shift in the theoretical basis of learning from a behavioral theory to a cognitive theory, exploring implications of the shift for educational practice. Compares behavioral and cognitive theories in relation to educational goals/objectives, individual differences, instructional strategies, learner motivation, and learner…

A number of individualized approaches to student learning are reviewed: Keller plan, refined linear model, variable route model, modular learning model, and independent study. Each successive approach offers students an increasingly wider degree of choice to determine goals and the means of achieving them. (Author/MLW)

Argues that constructivist science education works with an unsatisfactory account of knowledge which affects both its account of the nature of science and of science education. Includes a brief survey of realism and anti-realism in science. Contains 42 references. (DDR)

Discusses and criticizes a number of constructivist positions in education that are based on distinctions between the metaphors of "finding" versus "making" for the obtaining of new knowledge. Discusses what is of value in constructivism and what is ill-founded baggage. Contains 25 references. (DDR)

Considers the contribution psychology has made to understanding the way children learn science. Reviews the work of Piaget and the subsequent application of his theories to understanding science teaching and learning. Contains 150 references. (DDR)

Describes four major types of learning theories (behavioral, cognitive, cybernetic, and andragogical); examines pertinent literature for each; and traces links between the literature of learning theory and that of the design of online public access catalog instructional systems. (32 references) (Author/CLB)

Illustrates how the five cognitive levels--somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophic, and ironic--can be used to guide teaching and learning activities appropriate for engineering students. Uses the example of the concept of energy to demonstrate how educators might appeal to each mode of thinking for understanding a particular concept. (Contains 11…

Describes the Novice-Expert (Novex) Analysis, a nine-step approach to instructional design aimed at effecting the shift from novice to expert by creating a series of learning activities to enable novices to construct an expert knowledge base. The "Dimensions of Processing Model" diagram illustrates how learning processes influence…