Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

This study applied previously identified cognitive theory and research to the development of an instructional design model for teaching mental aspects underlying work and family activities in a context of rapid change and high technology. The model was tested by developing a prototype, materials required by the prototype were developed, and the design was tested for effectiveness in facilitating development of the mental aspects underlying activities within the selected domain. In the development of the model, four factors were identified as particularly significant in supporting learners' knowledge construction: fidelity of the learning situation to the real world, visualization, range and depth of learners' experiences, and mediation of learners' interpretations of their experiences. Knowledge constructed by learners was intended to: (1) integrate goals, intentions, and actions with features of the external world and domain-knowledge concepts and principles; (2) focus attention on deep-level features; (3) facilitate interpretations in terms of powerful, superordinate-level concepts and principles; and (4) support sensitivity to subtle but important variations among cases. A computer-based videodisc learning environment was developed as a prototype, and its intermediate level of instruction was tested. Findings supported the effectiveness of the learning environment in elaborating, modifying, and reorganizing knowledge structures in ways that enhance capacities to detect deep-level features and to apply knowledge in making judgments regarding actions that fit a situation. (51 references) (CML)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert