Undergraduates enrolled in a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) (Keller Plan) section of Principles of Educational Psychology at Mississippi State University were subjects in a study of the effects of no review (NR), review questions (RQ), and review concepts (RC), on short-term retention in a PSI class. The NR group received no review. The…

People sometimes forget a name or a word, and are plagued by the feeling that the sought-for word is somewhere in memory but not immediately available. The frequent description of this tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon as subthreshold memory traces is challenged by data showing that TOT genesis and TOT recovery are distinct processes. In a verbal…

This was a study to see whether students learn specific material better in classes which emphasize recitation on fact questions or recitation which involves the students in higher cognitive reasoning and interpreting skills. A series of 10 one-hour ecology lessons were taught by specially trained teachers; the same curriculum materials were…

This study tested the relationship of four independent variables to spelling achievement and the effect on these relationships when the format for measuring spelling achievement was varied, using multiple-choice, oral, and written formats. The subjects were 133 selected high school seniors. The data were treated by a stepwise multiple regression…

High and low achievers listened to 20 sentences under imagery or repetition instructions. The next day, learning was assessed by multiple choice items in which correct alternatives were stated in either verbatim or synonym form, and incorrect alternatives contained either familiar or new words. Implications for test construction were discussed.…

Compares two studies on the relation between comprehension and memory: (1) how access to text affected comprehension; (2) the effect of different learning goals (memorization or comprehension) on learning. Concludes that constructive learning activities are important for later utilization of information. Suggests a model of reading, learning, and…

Delineates four uses of schooling: replicative (rote), applied, associative, and interpretive learning. Argues that on the first two uses, by which schooling is ordinarily judged, the curriculum fails. Calls on curriculum researchers to demonstrate the school's role in developing the associative and interpretive uses of knowledge necessary to…

This article questions the stereotyped picture of the Asian university student as relying heavily on rote learning. A survey comparing Hong Kong students (n=2,143) with Australian norms found similar study processes in the two groups, suggesting that tendencies toward reproductive study approaches may be a function of teaching practices rather…

Examines how the role of questions in literacy instruction has always been strong, whether requiring answers involving rote memory or the activation of higher level critical thinking processes. Presents a six-step strategy for questioning followed by a field-tested group of fifth graders' responses to each step. (SC)

The paired-associate learning of 52 fourth graders was related to measures of cognitive ability obtained the previous year. Subjects were administered the paired-associate task under one of three variations: at a comfortable rate with standard instructions; at a comfortable rate with a potentially effective learning strategy (visual imagery); and…

A study was made to determine how the rate of spelling and the retention of spelling words was influenced by the number and spacing of practice presentations on unlearned words. Sixth-grade students (42) in East Palo Alto were drilled by a computer for 6 weeks on six lists of 12 different spelling words each. They drilled on one list until (1)…

College students, in three experiments, learned to recite a counting pattern in the base three number system. Although all subjects learned to a criterion of two errorless trials, learning with different rule systems resulted in different levels of understanding and performance on transfer tasks. (GDC)

Many students, it is argued, view medical education as a onetime requirement for the mastery of facts. They give little thought to the application of these facts or the ethical contexts in which they are used, and they are not being educated for a lifetime of learning. (MLW)

In this essay, William Hazlitt (1778-1830) deplores the effects of the classical education of his time on students who memorized without understanding and on teachers who tended toward pedantry. Interchange editors noted that "many of his criticisms of scholars and schooling have a contemporary ring...." (PP)

A study of the Types of Preferred Examinations (TOPE) in secondary school science students was done according to school type and gender. Findings show students prefer written, open book, unlimited time examinations which, they perceive, stress understanding rather than rote learning and that teachers, aware of student preferences, continue to use…