Discusses and reviews learner control research and presents three theoretical bases to help provide a framework for past research as well as to assist in designing future studies: (1) motivation, (2) attribution, and (3) information processing. Three types of learner control are discussed in relation to the theoretical perspectives: pacing,…

Examines elaboration theory of instruction (ETI), a theory that prescribes different patterns of sequencing for different kinds of learning. Presents results of surveying undergraduate students who have undergone ETI sequencing. Results identify the strengths and weaknesses of the instruction and ways of improving it. Student debriefing questions…

Previous research has shown that short-term memory for serial order can be influenced by background knowledge concerning regularities of sequential structure. Specifically, it has been shown that recall is superior for sequences that fit well with familiar sequencing constraints. The authors report a corresponding effect pertaining to serial…

Time-window sequential analyses test whether a target behavior occurs within a temporal window (e.g., within 2 seconds) after an antecedent behavior more than is expected by chance. This type of question is common when we need to know how one person or event may immediately affect another event or person in the natural environment. Theoretically,…

Individuals practiced two unique discrete sequence production tasks that differed in their relative time profile in either a blocked or random practice schedule. Each participant was subsequently administered a "precuing" protocol to examine the cost of initially compiling or modifying the plan for an upcoming movement's relative timing. The…

Questions the approach used to the topic of energy in Nuffield Secondary Science. Indicates that 14-year-old children will not be able to generalize from the experiments to see a pattern energing, and the concept of energy involves understanding of other concepts that the children have not yet attained. (GS)

This research compares two popular mastery-based instructional programs: Programmed Student Achievement and Total Mastery Learning. The primary objective is to determine which mastery technique results in the best classroom performance of college students in an introductory psychology course. (Author/RM)

This paper is a preliminary inquiry by a non-mathematician into graphic methods of sequential planning and ways in which hierarchical analysis and tree structures can be helpful in developing interest in the use of mathematical modeling in the search for creative solutions to real-life problems. Highlights include a discussion of hierarchical…

Three studies were designed to explore the pattern of scores on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) by 18 students in elementary level learning disability (LD) resource programs (Study 1), 133 elementary level students referred for learning problems (Study 2), and 67 elementary students referred for severe learning disabilities…

Research in the field of computer based instruction (CBI) has led to conflicting evidence on the efficacy of learner control over instruction. Typical implementations of learner control in CBI allow learners to proceed at their own pace, control the sequence of instruction, choose the amount of practice, or decide the level of difficulty…

The rhetorical cycle is a step-by-step approach that provides classroom experience before students actually write, thereby making the writing process less frustrating for them. This approach consists of six sequential steps: reading, thinking, speaking, listening, discussing, and finally writing. Readings serve not only as models of rhetorical…

Described in an application of Dr. Frank Hewett's Madison plan to the residential treatment of adolescent emotionally disturbed boys with learning related problems. (DB)

A total of 169 college students participated in two experiments investigating the effects of eight instructional sequences and the presence of a heuristic rule in the teaching of four coordinate concepts: trochaic, iambic, dactylic, and anapestic poetic meters. A four-factor experimental design was used: pure simultaneous or sequential…