1. Learning is an active process (active mentally, minds-on).

2. Learning for understanding is time-consuming and effortful.

3. Learning and understanding are strongly influenced by prior knowledge and experiences.

4. There are limitations to working memory - it can typically handle less than seven ideas (larger numbers of ideas can be 'chunked' into less than seven larger pieces for thinking about in working memory). (Miller, 1956)

5. Pencil and paper or computer can serve as an extender for working memory, holding larger numbers of ideas in an organized format for reflection and revision. (Saloman, 1993)

6. Coherent patterns in the form of pictures (visual, graphic) and/or stories help learners remember events, ideas and relations between observations and derived inferences.

7. Multiple forms of representation help provide multiple access to ideas.

8. Ability to transfer or apply an idea or process in a new context requires prior experience with that idea in multiple settings.

9. Some observations provide critical obstacles while others provide entree to understanding complex ideas.

10. Learning is promoted when:
    • ideas are situated, anchored, encountered in context,

    • learners engage in relevant, interesting, concrete experiences which require gradually increasing levels of discrimination,

    • questions emerge from students' experiences that are not adequately answered by their naive theories,

    • learners freely discuss their ideas and compare their ways of thinking with one another and with the instructor,

    • sufficient time and support are provided for constructing a consensus model of events, and for organizing knowledge about the topic in systematic ways,

    • there are opportunities for review of one's ideas by self and others, and for one's revision of those ideas, and

    • successive ideas are linked together in a larger framework.

11. Knowledge is embedded in the tools and strategies we use for thinking and communicating our ideas; providing students with appropriate tools maximizes learning. (Saloman, 1993; Pea & Gomes, 1992).