In response to recommendations by a National Institute of Education (NIE) planning group to the effect that NIE should support efforts to understand the cognitive processes involved in acquiring basic reading skills and in comprehending linguistic messages, this book summarizes what has been learned about reading comprehension in the decade since…

A study examined the use of lookback strategy (selective rereading of text material to clarify inconsistent information) employed by good and poor readers attempting to monitor their own reading comprehension. Using microcomputers, narrative and expository texts containing inconsistencies were presented one line at a time on a "page" of…

Fifty-four high aptitude undergraduates and 46 moderate-to-low aptitude undergraduates were divided into four treatment groups and were given a pretest during which they learned and recalled a map of a small town in five successive trials. Two weeks later, each group was given a different treatment with a varying degree of explicitness of…

Noting that loss of control is a major concern confronting patients experiencing an illness, this paper critically analyzes the research literature on control and clarifies the implications of this research for provider-patient communication. The paper first defines control, noting that the most frequently cited definition is the "locus of…

The lack of emphasis on occupational literacy competencies in most public school reading curricula leaves students poorly prepared for the demands of the workplace. Most jobs require mastery of the following literacy competencies: technical vocabulary; locating and using information; following directions; and self-monitoring of comprehension and…

To understand better how readers learn and recall text information, a study examined one prose learning approach--the selective attention strategy (SAS)--in which text elements are processed, given various degrees of attention, and learned according to their perceived importance. Fifty sixth grade students from an inner city school in a large…

Two studies analyzed self-regulatory cognitions of students asked to study complex instruction texts; examined the relationship between self-regulation and performance; assessed self-regulatory processes during learning from text in detail; and examined how pictures integrated in instructional text were processed by learners with different degrees…

This study explores the development of a beginning teacher's practical knowledge as expressed in her reflections on her actions during her first year of teaching. The view of practical knowledge constructed by Elbaz (1983) and extended by Clandinin (1986) forms the conceptual basis of the work, allied with the concept of reflection-in-action…

A study investigated the effects of a teacher inservice program on teaching fourth grade students the functional relationship between questions and the response information to which they refer. Ten teachers and 180 of their students participated in the study. Three of the teachers participated in a traditional half-day teacher workshop on…

Five deaf students, aged 11-12, participated in an instructional program using metacognitive strategies to teach summarization skills based on a knowledge of story structure. During intervention, the subjects' performance rose noticeably, and the level of performance was maintained in three subjects. (Author/JDD)

Discusses the inclusion of socio-scientific issues in science education. Describes a study in which adolescents who had successfully completed both high school chemistry and biology were interviewed to determine the extent to which they used their knowledge of the physical world, via nonsocial cognition, when analyzing such issues. (TW)

Two studies investigated robustness of the effect of precise elaborations on memory and relationship of these effects to metacognitions about learning. Sentences which were elaborated in different ways were read to subjects by experimenters to establish levels of meaningfulness and identify effects on performance. Comprehension and confidence…

The fields of information processing, motivation, and metacognition are included in this review of research on student motivation. The multidisciplinary approach is discussed, as are the differences between achievement motivation and intrinsic motivation, and various learning models. (GDC)

There is continued pressure for the application and integration of computer technologies into learning and teaching. For such innovations to be successfully implemented, students themselves must have the confidence, ability, and willingness to engage with computer technology. In some disciplinary and professional contexts such as the arts,…

Ways to enhance learning by both at-risk and underachieving students in upper-level accounting courses were studied at Morehead State University (Kentucky), based on the concepts of metacognition, self-regulated learning, and self-efficacy. It was hypothesized that students experience self-regulated learning when they reproduce problem solutions…