One of the most powerful and consistent findings to emerge from cognitive psychology research over the past several decades is the realization that what knowledge learners possess is a powerful force in what information they attend to, how that information is perceived, what learners judge to be relevant or important, and what they understand and remember. Truly, one's knowledge base is a scaffold that supports the construction of all future learning. Despite the well documented and highly acclaimed place of knowledge ...
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One of the most powerful and consistent findings to emerge from cognitive psychology research over the past several decades is the realization that what knowledge learners possess is a powerful force in what information they attend to, how that information is perceived, what learners judge to be relevant or important, and what they understand and remember. Truly, one's knowledge base is a scaffold that supports the construction of all future learning. Despite the well documented and highly acclaimed place of knowledge within theories and models of learning and instruction in past decades, the emergence of contemporary research paradigms and instructional practices demand a reexamination and reconceptualization of the generalizations that have guided the thinking of many in the educational community. That is, given continued shifts in theoretical and methodological orientations within the educational community, how has knowledge about knowledge significantly grown or developed? Has greater clarity been brought to the construct of knowledge, and has this clarity contributed to more accurate and meaningful measures of one's knowledge base? These are among the questions explored in this thematic edition of the Educational Psychologist. In this volume, researchers speak to the role knowledge plays in learning and instruction from the vantage point of their various programs of research.
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