Research in education and cognitive development suggests that explaining plays a key role in learning and generalization: when learners provide explanations – even to themselves – they learn more effectively and generalize more readily to novel situations. This paper explores a potential mechanism underlying this effect, motivated by philosophical accounts of the structure of explanations: that...

This study addresses the question of whether or not active learning can be taught online. There are many definitions of learning: It is the process and the sum total of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, beliefs, and emotions. There is, however, a nuanced definition of active online learning, defined as methods by which learners actively participate in the learning process (e.g., o...

Computer anxiety continues to be a significant issue for many students. While ever learners experience such anxiety, the use of computers in tertiary education will continue to present significant issues for students and teachers alike. A proliferation of adult education and training initiatives have emerged to assist computer novices to gain the skills needed to operate in the computer domain....

If the mnemonic benefits of testing are to be widely realized in real-world learning circumstances, people must appreciate the value of testing and choose to utilize testing during self-guided learning. Yet metacognitive judgments do not appear to reflect the enhancement provided by testing Karpicke & Roediger (Science 319:966-968, 2008). In this article, we show that under judicious conditions...

Most research on second language and culture concentrates on learning the target culture in order to better understand the second language. This survey study looks at culture from a different perspective i.e., from the learners’ own culture point of view. It focuses on the relationship that exists between attachment to one’s home culture and comprehending written texts in a foreign language. Th...

This study investigated the desirable characteristics of anthropomorphized learning-companion agents for college students. First, interviews with six undergraduates explored their concepts of desirable learning companions. The interviews yielded agent competency, agent personality, and interaction control. Next, a controlled experiment examined whether learner competency (strong vs. weak) would...

Humans draw on their stereotypic beliefs to make assumptions about others. Even though prior research has shown that individuals respond socially to media, there is little evidence with regards to learners stereotyping and categorizing pedagogical agents. This study investigated whether learners stereotype a pedagogical agent as being knowledgeable or not knowledgeable and how this acuity influ...

The purpose of the study is to compare the writing proficiencies of firstand second-language learners and to examine their teachers’ beliefs about the writing students produce. The four fifth-graders were nominated by their teachers as either strong or weak writers. Text analysis methods were used to analyze the writing proficiencies manifested in the compositions and interviews with the teache...

Developing critical thinking practices among young learners through mathematics education is a topic of attention for research community. Learners’ concerning cognitive and social aspects their have been explored in several studies. However, learners’ personal beliefs about learning process not received much consideration. In this paper, practice with critically potential to suggest changes bas...