In program evaluation and policy analyses, utility supplants rigor as the first and most important criterion in judging literature reviews. Although R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen emphasize rigor, a utilization-focused evaluation emphasizes purpose and audience, both of which affect the conduct of a multivocal literature review. (SLD)

Reviews of multivocal literature are assessments of what can be learned from a given body of literature and assessments of the claims on which that knowledge is based. Methodological rigor is less likely to be a problem in such reviews than is lack of independent judgment. (SLD)

R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen's article does not meet its own recommended standards for rigorous testing and presentation of its own conclusions. Use of the exploratory case study to analyze multivocal literatures is not supported, and the claim of grounded theory to analyze multivocal literatures may be stronger. (SLD)

Arguments supporting the use of the exploratory case method in evaluating reviews of multivocal literature are repeated, and points of general agreement with M. Q. Patton and R. F. Elmore are reviewed. Disagreement is expressed with R. K. Yin about the value of grounded theory in analyzing multivocal literature. (SLD)

A conceptual framework is presented for organizing and relating terms pertaining to select knowledge constructs. In constructing this framework, definitions are derived for 27 basic terms essential for understanding literature on learning and literacy. Implications of this terminology for research and instructional practice are discussed. (SLD)

Aspects of the social theory of J. Habermas with implications for education are reviewed. Habermas had influenced thinking about pedagogical and administrative theory and about the societal role of education and educational practices. According to Habermas, critical social science requires mastery of the analytic and interpretive sciences, not…

Community involvement is conceptualized as a typology of the following processes of social change: (1) conversion; (2) mobilization; (3) allocation of resources; and (4) instruction. The effects of these forms of involvement are considered in a review of 13 evaluations of programs for disadvantaged youth involving the community. (SLD)

The multisource approach to learning, based on the approach of F. C. Bartlett (1932), is discussed as an introduction to five articles on the approach. The assumptions of simplification by isolation and by integration; and the emphases on the various processes, as opposed to structures, of learning are discussed. (TJH)

The following five reasons for failure to use learning strategies are discussed: poor cognitive monitoring, primitive routines that yield a product, a meager knowledge base, attributions and classroom goals that do not support strategy use, and minimal transfer. A theory of settings must be considered to address these issues. (TJH)

Research literature is examined for evidence suggesting that, in complex meaningful learning, the learner passes through a series of stages or phases during which the learning process and the variables influencing it change systematically. Phase theories are reviewed; the initial, intermediate, and terminal phases of learning are discussed. (TJH)

The central role of interest in determining selection and persistence in processing information is discussed. The effect of individual and text-based interest on cognitive functioning and facilitation of learning, the role of interest in allocation of attention, the associated psychological and physiological processes, and related neurocognitive…

The assumption that learning is the internalization of externally available knowledge is criticized as undermining the creative and multisource nature of learning. Learning is defined as the creative reconceptualization of internal knowledge. Two sources of internal self-regulation are proposed: one regulating the sequential and one coordinating…

Issues that must be addressed to develop a cognitive multisource learning theory for educational research are addressed. It is proposed that a constitutive problem for educational learning theory is the explanation of difficult learning. A unit of analysis, called a "contextual module," is applied to this problem. (TJH)

The effect on examinee performance of the rule that multiple-choice (MC) test items require the acceptance of 1 choice was examined for 106 dental students presented with choices in MC and multiple true-false formats. MC items force examinees to select one choice, which causes artificial acceptance of correct/incorrect choices. (SLD)

The Collis Attitudes toward Computers Survey, developed by B. Collis (1984) for a secondary school population, was tested with 305 college students attending the University of Winnipeg (Canada). Results support the reliability and generalizability of the survey and identified one dominant factor--personal interest and enjoyment of computers. (SLD)