Discusses ways to devise training methods to improve students' learning abilities, specifically in rote recall, evaluation of the learning task, summarization, and learning from the text. (EF)

The authors conducted 3 experiments addressing the issue of how observations and multiple sources of prior knowledge are put together in category learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, learning was faster for critical features, which were predictable on the basis of prior knowledge, than for filler features, and this advantage increased as more…

This action research project was designed to maximize learning for all students by addressing different learning styles and implementing various strategies. The students in the targeted school exhibited difficulty in experiencing academic success while exposed to conventional teaching strategies. The two target schools consisted of an intermediate…

Psychological research indicates that rote learning involves a good deal of what is commonly called conceptualizing, and conceptual learning demands a large amount of what is often considered rote repetition. (HMD)

THIS STUDY SOUGHT TO DETERMINE WHETHER SERIAL LEARNING EFFICIENCY DEPENDS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PART SIZE AND THE EMPIRICALLY DETERMINED MEMORY SPAN OF THE LEARNERS. ISSUES EXPLORED WERE THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN REHEARSABILITY AND EFFORT IN OPTIMIZING THIS RELATIONSHIP, AND FEASIBILITY OF A FLEXIBLE PART SIZE. A MEASURE OF MEMORY SPAN WAS…

Study found that students who practiced writing spelling words to the point of fatigue performed significantly more poorly on a post-test than students who had not practiced at all. (RT)

Commends the practice of learning poetry by heart. (HOD)

Presents an experiment for teachers to determine whether rote or reason has greater influence upon the way students think about computation. Provides some observations and concerns, and discusses needed changes in thinking and practice for teaching mathematics. (ASK)

This study focuses on the long-term retention of basic mathematical techniques in a first-year calculus course, involving a sample group of engineering students at the University of Pretoria. The study investigates which and how much of the basic mathematical knowledge and rote skills acquired in the first year of study is retained after a further…

In this article we recount our experiences of teaching photosynthesis in an integrated way to secondary school students and teachers, science undergraduates and postgraduates. Conceptual questions were posed to investigate learners' fundamental understanding of simple light-dependent and light-independent processes taught to most students at…

This paper discusses the implementation of a new e-learning environment that supports non-rote learning of exploratory and inductive statistics within the pedagogical paradigm of social constructivism. The e-learning system is based on a new computational framework that allows us to create an electronic research environment where students are…

In school settings, students are typically evaluated using group achievement tests, IQ scales, and college entrance exams that focus more on rote-verbal skills (e.g., vocabulary, mathematical facts) than on higher level executive functions (e.g., abstract thinking, problem solving). However, recent neuropsychological findings suggest that…

The authors have been engaged in research focused on students' depth of learning as well as teachers' efforts to foster deep learning. Findings from a study examining the teaching practices and student learning outcomes of sixty-four teachers in seventeen different states (Smith et al. 2005) indicated that most of the learning in these classrooms…

This experiment investigated the assumption that children's learning and retention of prose material can be differentially affected by varying discrepancy from expectation (as established by an advance organizer). It was hypothesized that a passage which differed significantly from expectation would produce heightened arousal, which should in turn…