In order to examine the influence of interactive media on children's story memory, first-grade children experienced a computer-based story in one of four presentation modes, two of which were interactive. In the interaction groups, there was no relation between the amount of interaction with the story and subsequent memory. (Author)

An adult read to 12 children from a regular paper book. Twenty-four children explored a similar electronic book. For half of this group, the electronic book was with and for half without restrictions on games. Regular book format was more supportive of learning story content and phrasing; both formats supported internalization of features of…

Three studies investigated whether and under what conditions the addition of on-screen text would facilitate the learning of a narrated scientific multimedia explanation. The overall pattern of results can be explained by a dual-processing model of working memory, which has implications for the design of multimedia instruction. (Author)

Early childhood educators were assigned to one of three instructional conditions to assess the impact of computer workshops on their level of computer anxiety, knowledge, and comfort with technology. Overall, workshops provided gains that could translate into more effective and efficient computer use in the classroom. (Author)

The task was to survey an area of a planet's surface to identify the presence of various geological features such as a trench, ridge, or basin. Students who received prior pictorial representations of features performed more accurately than students who did not, but there was no significant effect for including verbal statements about strategies…

Examined social-contextual conditions that led teachers to be more autonomy supportive versus controlling with students. Using structural equation modeling the authors observed that the more pressure teachers perceive from above and from below, the less they are self-determined toward teaching. In turn, the less they are self-determined, the more…

The domain specificity and generality of an important critical thinking skill was examined by administering nine reasoning and decision-making tasks to 125 adults. Performance across tasks displayed considerable domain specificity, but five tasks displayed moderate convergence. Performance on tasks that displayed domain generality was more…

This research developed and validated a new measure of undergraduate student cynicism--the Cynical Attitudes Toward College Scale (CATCS). Two empirical studies were aimed at validating the CATCS, showing that it can differentiate student groups exhibiting different kinds and levels of cynicism and illustrating how it can predict students' future…

Using naturalistic inquiry and case study contrasts, finds variation in literacy support available to children. In income-eligible preschools, curricula and pedagogy reflected a limited view of children as learners. Argues that poor children and children of color are socialized to practice a different literacy, one that offers limited experiences…

Effects of just reading, performance reading, and interactional reading-aloud styles on learning were assessed for 117 first graders and 129 third graders. Results reveal that reading-aloud styles produced statistically significant effects on vocabulary acquisition and comprehension and similar results at each grade level. Vocabulary acquisition…

Compares the influence of text difficulty on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower…

Assesses the impact of using the structure strategy as a base for an intergenerational Internet tutoring program in which older adults provided Internet-based tutoring for 5th-grade students. Both tutors and children in the structure strategy group with tutors increased strategy use, total and main idea recall, and self-efficacy. Findings have…

Uses case studies to explore how academic activities and discourse work together in classrooms to shape learning and instruction. Theories of social constructivism predict that the discourse arising before, during, and after activities can explain variability in students' social and academic participation in curriculum events, as can the nature of…

Investigates whether differences exist in perceptions of class activities for students in Grades 3-8 and between genders. In general, middle school students found their classroom activities less frequently interesting and enjoyable, with fewer opportunities for choice. Girls indicated that their class activities were more frequently interesting…

Investigates how individual and situational interest factors contribute to topic interest and text learning. Results reveal that both individual interest variables and specific text titles influenced topic interest. Examination of processes predictive of text learning indicated that topic interest was related to affective response, affect to…