This article describes the ICAP framework that defines cognitive engagement activities on the basis of students' overt behaviors and proposes that engagement behaviors can be categorized and differentiated into one of four modes: "Interactive," "Constructive," "Active," and "Passive." The ICAP…

Research on underachieving gifted students has uncovered a large number of characteristics differentiating gifted underachieving and achieving students. However, less is known about the way in which underachievement develops across schooling. Using a person-centered theoretical framework and key constructs from current motivational theories, we…

This article presents an outline of a script theory of guidance for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). With its 4 types of components of internal and external scripts (play, scene, role, and scriptlet) and 7 principles, this theory addresses the question of how CSCL practices are shaped by dynamically reconfigured internal…

Among his many accomplishments in educational psychology, Merlin C. Wittrock is perhaps best remembered for his enduring contributions to the science of learning. His vision of how learning works is best explicated in articles published in "Educational Psychologist" (Wittrock, 1974, 1978, 1989, 1991, 1992), beginning with his classic 1974 article,…

Over the past decades research on learning has become more diverse and complex. The concern expressed by Alexander, Schallert, and Reynolds (2009/this issue) is that this diversity of theoretical perspectives has resulted in a fragmentation that is destructive to the field. Although it is important to engage in explicit discussions of how learning…

Successful learning sometimes requires that the learner abandons or rejects one or more prior concepts, beliefs, or intuitive theories. Such "nonmonotonic changes" are widely believed to have a low probability of occurring spontaneously and to be difficult to promote with instruction. A theory of nonmonotonic cognitive change should explain both…

New theory on adaptive teaching reflects the social dynamics of classrooms to explain what practicing teachers do to address student differences related to learning. In teaching adaptively, teachers respond to learners as they work. Teachers read student signals to diagnose needs on the fly and tap previous experience with similar learners to…

This article provides a tutorial overview of cognitive architectures that can form a theoretical foundation for designing multimedia instruction. Cognitive architectures include a description of memory stores, memory codes, and cognitive operations. Architectures that are relevant to multimedia learning include Paivio's dual coding theory,…

Examination of motivational dynamics in academic contexts within self-determination theory has centered primarily around both the motives (initially intrinsic vs. extrinsic, later autonomous vs. controlled) that regulate learners' study behavior and the contexts that promote or hinder these regulations. Less attention has been paid to the goal…

What follows is the presentation given after receiving the E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement in Educational Psychology from Division 15 of the American Psychological Association. This presentation calls for greater respect for and attention to scientific speculation in educational psychology as a critical component in theory development and model…

I (Waterhouse, 2006) argued that, because multiple intelligences, the Mozart effect, and emotional intelligence theories have inadequate empirical support and are not consistent with cognitive neuroscience findings, these theories should not be applied in education. Proponents countered that their theories had sufficient empirical support, were…

"The Mozart effect" originally referred to the phenomenon of a brief enhancement of spatial-temporal abilities in college students after listening to a Mozart piano sonata (K. 448). Over time, this term was conflated with an independent series of studies on the effects of music instruction. This occurrence has caused confusion that has been…

For a scholar, a fate worse than being criticized is being ignored. Waterhouse (2006) has done Howard Gardner the courtesy of reading much of the primary and secondary literature on multiple intelligences (MI) theory. Although the authors disagree with several of her interpretations and conclusions, we appreciate her efforts as well as the…

Empirical research is all about trying to model and predict the world. In this article, I discuss how design-based research methods can help do this effectively. In particular, design-based research methods can help with the problem of methodological alignment: ensuring that the research methods we use actually test what we think they are testing.…

Designed learning environments embody conjectures about learning and instruction, and the empirical study of learning environments allows such conjectures to be refined over time. The construct of embodied conjecture is introduced as a way to demonstrate the theoretical nature of learning environment design and to frame methodological issues in…