This volume is based on papers presented at the 30th Carnegie Mellon Symposium on Cognition. This particular symposium was conceived in reference to the 1974 symposium entitled Cognition and Instruction. In the 25 years since that symposium, reciprocal relationships have been forged between psychology and education, research and practice, and laboratory and classroom learning contexts. Synergistic advances in theories, empirical findings, and instructional practice have been facilitated by the establishment of new interdisciplinary journals, teacher education courses, funding initiatives, and research institutes. So, with all of this activity, where is the field of cognition and instruction? How much progress has been made in 25 years? What remains to be done? This volume proposes and illustrates some exciting and challenging answers to these questions. Chapters in this volume describe advances and challenges in four areas, including development and instruction, teachers and instructional strategies, tools for learning from instruction, and social contexts of instruction and learning. Detailed analyses of tasks, subjects' knowledge and processes, and the changes in performance over time have led to new understanding of learners' representations, their use of multiple strategies, and the important role of metacognitive processes. New methods for assessing and tracking the development and elaboration of knowledge structures and processing strategies have yielded new conceptualizations of the process of change. Detailed cognitive analysis of expert teachers, as well as a direct focus on enhancing teachers' cognitive models of learners and use of effective instructional strategies, are other areas that have seen tremendous growth and refinement in the past 25 years. Similarly, the strong impact of curriculum materials and activities based on a thorough cognitive analysis of the task has been extended to the use of technological tools for learning, such as intelligent tutors and complex computer based instructional interfaces. Both the shift to conducting a significant portion of the cognition and instruction research in real classrooms and the increased collaboration between academics and educators have brought the role of the social context to center stage.

This text addresses the problem of how our past or current learning influences, is generalised and is applied or adapted to similar or new situations. It illustrates how transfer of learning can be promoted in the classroom and everyday life.

Sipke D. Fokkema Amsterdam, Free University From June 13th - 17th, 1977 the NATO International Conference on Cognitive Psychology and Instruction, organized by the editors of this volume, took place at the Free University of Amsterdam. During this period approximately 150 psychologists representing 15 countries assembled for an exchange of scientific experiences and ideas. The broad aim of the conference, as indicated by its title, was to explore the extent to which theoretical and methodological developments in cognitive psychology might provide useful knowledge with regard to the design and management of instruction. From a great variety of submitted papers the organizers attempted to select those that represented major problem areas being scientifically studied in several countries. For the organization of this book we chose to categorize the contributions according to the following general areas: I. Learning II. Comprehension and Information Structure III. Perceptual and Memory Processes in Reading IV. Problem Solving and Components of Intelligence V. Cognitive Development VI. Approaches to Instruction The final paper in the volume is an extensive review and summary by Glaser, Pellegrino, and Lesgold, that examines the state Qf cognitive psychology (mainly as reflected in the contributions in this volume) with regard to instructional purposes. Each of the sections of the book also begins with a brief overview of the specific topics considered by the individual contributors within that section.

By establishing a conceptual framework and a common language for educators to work together, this volume attempts to answer the challenge facing all teachers -- how can students improve the quality of their thinking? Methods of strengthening the thought process include: helping students learn to monitor their attention and commitments; asking questions that require students to organize, analyze, and integrate information; setting tasks that involve complex processes such as problem solving and research; and modeling and reinforcing fair-mindedness.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Learning Research and Development Center (RDC) at the University of Pittsburgh, these papers present contemporary research on cognition and instruction. The book pays homage to Robert Glaser, foudner of LRDC, and includes debates and discussions about issues of fundamental importance to the cognitive science of instruction.

Unique and stimulating, this book addresses metacognition in both the neglected area of teaching and the more well-established area of learning. It addresses domain-general and domain-specific aspects of metacognition, including applications to the particular subjects of reading, speaking, mathematics, and science. This collection spans theory, research and practice related to metacognition in education at all school levels, from elementary through university.