This book stems from more than 25 years of systematic research into the experience of learning undertaken by a research team trying to account for the obvious differences between more or less successful instances of learning in educational institutions. The book offers an answer in terms of the discovery of critical differences in the structure of the learner's awareness and critical differences in the meaning of the learner's world. The authors offer a detailed account of the empirical fi...

Universities are rarely structured to facilitate learning and when they are, it is often done so in a limited way. This book looks at the theory and practice of learning and how universities can improve their quality and competence. It tackles the past failure of the quality and competence movements and advocates a move towards 'Universities of Learning'. The authors advocate an integration of elements that are often dealt with separately - theory and practice, teaching and research, and t...

Using illustrative teaching case studies, this book demonstrates how teaching informed by a learning theory, specifically Variation theory, can equip teachers to facilitate possibilities for students’ learning in effective and powerful ways.For a long period of time teaching has been “black-boxed”, in favour of other explanations of why students learn or not, such as motivation and social interaction. A large amount of research on teaching and learning, not the least made using Var...

Necessary Conditions of Learning presents a research approach (phenomenography) and a theory (the variation theory of learning) introduced and developed by Ference Marton and taken up by his wide and varied following around the world—together with their practical applications in educational contexts. Reflecting Marton’s whole lifetime's work, the unique and significant contribution of this book is to offer an evidence-based answer to the questions "How do we make novel meanings our own?" a...

Understanding Consciousness, 2nd Edition provides a unique survey and evaluation of consciousness studies, along with an original analysis of consciousness that combines scientific findings, philosophy and common sense. Building on the widely praised first edition, this new edition adds fresh research, and deepens the original analysis in a way that reflects some of the fundamental changes in the understanding of consciousness that have taken place over the last 10 years.T...

This revision guide provides concise coverage of the central topics within Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology, presented within a framework designed to help you focus on assessment and exams. The text encapsulates all the subject matter listed in the BPS Qualifying Examination syllabus for Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology. The sequence of chapters is organised temporally, and focuses on how the major conceptual issues in psychology have been handled over time. Fur...

The ability to communicate through language is such a fundamental part of human existence that we often take it for granted, rarely considering how sophisticated the process is by which we understand and make ourselves understood. In The Extended Mind, acclaimed author Robert K. Logan examines the origin, emergence, and co-evolution of language, the human mind, and culture.Building on his previous study, The Sixth Language (2000) and making use of emergence theory...

Although the ability to retain, process, and project prior experience onto future situations is indispensable, the human mind also possesses the ability to override experience and adapt to changing circumstances. Cognitive scientist Stellan Ohlsson analyzes three types of deep, non-monotonic cognitive change: creative insight, adaptation of cognitive skills by learning from errors, and conversion from one belief to another, incompatible belief. For each topic, Ohlsson summarizes past resea...

This book is a research-based practical guide for educators who work with students whose linguistic and cultural background is different from their own. Illustrated with many practical examples of classroom activities, projects, and teaching strategies, the book is also an introduction to immigrant education for school administrators and educational planners in communities or regions that are in the process of developing plans and programs for newcomer students. Although the focus is on fi...

How brain science answers the most intriguing questions about the meaning of lifeWhy is life worth living? What makes actions right or wrong? What is reality and how do we know it? The Brain and the Meaning of Life draws on research in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to answer some of the most pressing questions about life's nature and value. Paul Thagard argues that evidence requires the abandonment of many traditional ideas about the soul, free ...

Language, Cognition, and Human Nature collects together for the first time much of Steven Pinker's most influential scholarly work on language and cognition. Pinker's seminal research explores the workings of language and its connections to cognition, perception, social relationships, child development, human evolution, and theories of human nature. This eclectic collection spans Pinker's thirty-year career, exploring his favorite themes in greater depth and scientific detail. It ...

How to Research is a clear and accessible guide to the business of doing a research project. It systematically takes the reader through from the planning to the writing up and finishing off.