Diversity and mobility in education and work present a paramount challenge that needs better conceptualization in educational theory. This challenge has been addressed by educational scholars with the notion of "boundaries", particularly by the concepts of "boundary crossing" and "boundary objects". Although studies on boundary crossing and…

This article presents the authors' response and clarifications to the comments of Margaret E. Gredler and of Karen A. Krasny, Mark Sadoski, and Allan Paivio on their article "Schema Theory Revisited." The authors first respond to Gredler's criticism contending that they "transmogrified" Harre's (1984) "ignominiously named...Vygotsky space" in…

A major problem in understanding a new theory is that rapid gains in popularity are accompanied by misconceptions and distortions (Valsiner, 1988). A developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky, has rapidly become a much repeated name at all levels of educational psychology: theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical. And once again, inexplicable…

This article presents the authors' response to McVee, Dunsmore, and Gavelek's "Schema Theory Revisited." In "Schema Theory Revisited," McVee, Dunsmore, and Gavelek (2005) proposed a rearticulation of schema theory intended to encompass the ideas that schemata and other cognitive processes are embodied, that knowledge is situated in the transaction…

This literature review summarizes research on online teaching and learning. It is organized into four topics: course environment, learners' outcomes, learners' characteristics, and institutional and administrative factors. The authors found little consistency of terminology, discovered some conclusive guidelines, and identified developing lines of…

The achievement of adolescent literacy learners has become a significant topic of research and policy. This review of literature links current literacy learning theories, research that addresses the individualized nature of adolescent readers, and the literature delineating adolescent literacy policy. Researchers using naturalistic inquiry have…

Research from four subareas of prose learning (advance organizers, response modes, objectives, and inserted questions) is considered and weaknesses in the studies conducted are noted. Suggestions are advanced as to how researchers might profitably spend their energies in the future. (RC)

Methods developed by Rothkopf; McConkie, Rayner and Wilson; McGaw and Grotelueschen; DiVesta and Rickards to assess prose processes produced by adjunct postquestions are reviewed. The processes are: specific backward; general backward; specific forward; and general forward. (MH)

Schema theory, an area of educational research within perceptual learning theory, is divided into five major subtopics: (1) explanation, development, and background; (2) theoretical approaches; (3) pattern classification; (4) pattern quantification; and (5) quantified pattern feature approach (which attempts to combine classification and…

Variables affecting long-term retention are examined: (1) learner history--including ability, prior knowledge and self-confidence; (2) events (teaching techniques) occurring immediately before reading; (3) events occurring during reading; and (4) events in the retention interval, particularly practice effects. The ACT associationist model is used…

Beginning with an identification and brief description of the four major types of memory structures--networks of propositions, intellectual skills, images, and episodes--this extensive review of previous studies identifies many examples of improved retention and transfer resulting from combinations of structures, as opposed to single structures. A…

Despite differences in origin and orientation, Piagetian theory and criterion referenced measurement share a general purpose--that of diagnosing human behavior. Beginning with a review of both perspectives, this paper illustrates their highly comparable natures and indicates how they could be used together to improve student evaluation. (Author/…

The effectiveness of guided and nonguided instructional strategies for teaching psychomotor skills is reviewed from the perspectives of learning theories, psychomotor research, transfer of learning, and the function and desirability of making errors in the learning process. (EVH)

Barnes and Clawson's presentation of Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning (Review of Educational Research, 45, 1975, pp. 637-59) is misleading, according to the author. He states that Ausubel's crucial point is not that organizers relate new knowledge to an existing cognitive structure, but that new learning materials can only be considered…